title: Contemporary practice in forensic odontology.
abstract: Forensic odontology plays a major role in the identification of those individuals who cannot be identified visually or by other means. The unique nature of dental anatomy and placement of custom restorations ensure accuracy when the techniques are correctly employed. It is evident that identification of victims in accidents and natural calamities is of utmost importance and is a challenging task. The teeth may also be used as weapons and under certain circumstances; they may provide information regarding the identity of the biter. Dental professionals play a major role in keeping accurate dental records and providing all necessary information so that legal authorities may recognize malpractices, negligence, fraud child abuse and also, identify an individual. In this article, we will discuss such evolvement of the subject.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, Sam Higginbotom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (Deemed University), Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agnihotri
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Akhilesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chandra
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Carrier Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Om Prakash
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Gupta
keywords: Age estimation; bite mark analysis; dental records; forensic odontology; mass disaster; sex determination