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      Antemortem dental records versus individual identification

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          Abstract

          Background:

          Forensic odontology plays a pivotal role in the identification of victims in mass disasters utilizing “preserved dental records” or “ante-mortem records” available with the general dental practitioners. Identification of a deceased individual by comparing antemortem and postmortem records is more reliable and easier as compared to other methods. However, in India, the practice of maintaining dental case record requires additional emphasis.

          Aim:

          The aim of the present study is to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of dental practitioners in South India regarding awareness and importance of maintaining patient's dental records.

          Settings and Design:

          A descriptive questionnaire study was conducted among the alumni of the dental institution over a period of 3 months. The alumni who passed out from 2000 to 2015 were included in the study.

          Materials and Methods:

          A structured questionnaire containing 24 questions regarding the knowledge, attitude, and practice of maintaining clinical case records was prepared and validated. Data were collected from 543 dental practitioners from various parts of South India who were the alumni of the dental institution.

          Statistical Analysis:

          The data were summarized and analyzed using the statistical software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The descriptive analysis was done in percentages, and the results were tabulated.

          Results:

          Overall, 58.39% of dentists were found to be maintaining records promptly, and 84.6% dentists have knowledge about forensic odontology, but only 8.4% of dentists have helped the government agencies during mass disasters.

          Conclusion:

          This study reveals that the need of the hour is to change the attitude and to cultivate interest among practicing dentists regarding dental record maintenance which can tremendously help in the deceased individual identification process.

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          Most cited references15

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          Dental records: An overview

          Dental records consist of documents related to the history of present illness, clinical examination, diagnosis, treatment done, and the prognosis. A thorough knowledge of dental records is essential for the practicing dentist, as it not only has a forensic application, but also a legal implication with respect to insurance and consumerism. This article reviews the importance of dental records in forensics.
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            Awareness of forensic odontology among dental practitioners in Chennai: A knowledge, attitude, practice study

            Objective: The aim of the study is to analyze the knowledge, attitude and practice of forensic odontology among dental practitioners in Chennai. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a sample of 322 dental practitioners in Chennai and data was collected by means of a questionnaire. Results: Twenty-one percent of the dental practitioners did not maintain dental records in their clinic/workplace, with only 12% of the practitioners maintaining complete records. Ninety-three percent of dental practitioners were not maintaining dental records for more than seven years. The significance of ante-mortem records in identifying deceased suspects was not known to 17% of the dental practitioners. Forty percent of the dental practitioners were not aware of child abuse and the actions to be taken. Dental age estimation was not known to 41% of the dental practitioners. Thirty-eight percent of the practitioners were unaware of the accurate method of individual identification. About 18% of the dental practitioners did not know the significance of bite mark patterns of the teeth. Ninety-three percent of the practitioners lacked formal training in collecting, evaluating and presenting dental evidence. Thirty percent of dental practitioners did not know they can testify as an expert witness in the court of law. Forty percent of the dental practitioners were unaware of identifying the age and gender of an individual in mass disasters. Conclusion: Our study revealed inadequate knowledge, poor attitude and lack of practice of forensic odontology prevailing among the dental practitioners in Chennai.
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              Importance of Dental Records in Forensic Dental Identification

              Introduction: The patient’s record maintains all the diagnostic information with regards to patients and contains valuable information that can be beneficial to the dentist as well as legal authorities during forensic human identification. Aim: Objective of the study was to compare dental records with an ideal dental record form, as well as to compare between dental records of private clinics and academic hospitals and to assess the awareness and the knowledge of the dentists regarding the maintenance of their dental records accurate for medico-legal purposes. Material and Methods: A comparative cross-sectional study between records kept in private clinics and academic teaching hospitals in Khartoum locality. Results: Our results showed that Students are more likely to encounter accurate dental records more than dentists in private clinics. In conclusion Students are more aware regarding medicolegal purposes of maintenance of dental records. Accurate maintenance of dental records is more among dental students. Therefore, private clinics encounter dental records as financial documents.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                J Forensic Dent Sci
                J Forensic Dent Sci
                JFDS
                Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences
                Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd (India )
                0975-1475
                0975-2137
                Sep-Dec 2018
                : 10
                : 3
                : 158-163
                Affiliations
                [1] Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, SRM Dental College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
                Author notes
                Address for correspondence: Dr. Niveditha Thampan, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, SRM Dental College, Ramapuram, Chennai - 600 089, Tamil Nadu, India. E-mail: thampan.niveditha@ 123456gmail.com
                Article
                JFDS-10-158
                10.4103/jfo.jfds_13_18
                6528534
                31143065
                d5501b1c-13a7-42c2-a3a6-41d68051a152
                Copyright: © 2019 Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences

                This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.

                History
                Categories
                Original Article

                Forensic science
                dental records,forensic odontology,general dental practitioners,mass disasters

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