Forensic Odontology

Teeth are used for cutting and crushing food. Animals also use their teeth for catching their prey and to defend themselves. Teeth are the hardest parts of animal body because of a layer of enamel on their surface. Odontology is the study of teeth and different factors that affect the formation of teeth. Forensic odontology is the application of various principles and knowledge of dentistry in the administration of law. Forensic odontology has major application in the identification of dead where other methods of identification are not possible, such as in cases of mass disasters, mutilated remains, and charred bodies. Other applications of odontology are age estimation of living and dead, bite mark analysis on the human body and foodstuff, and identification of victims of wild animal attacks. Identification through dental evidence is established by comparing dental remains with antemortem or post-mortem dental records. Therefore, dental evidence depends upon the availability of data. Our teeth keep changing with time, so if there is a large time difference between dental records and the dental evidence, it may cause a problem in identification. Therefore, it is less definite than evidence like fingerprints and DNA.