Forensic Odontology, Past, Present and Future

Forensic means ¿court of law¿ and Odontology refers to study of teeth. Forensic odontology can be defined that branch of dentistry which deals with handling and examination of dental evidence , and after proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings in the court of law. Some of the important roles of forensic odontologists are Identifying unknown human remains through dental records , and assisting at the location of a mass disaster , eliciting the ethnicity and assisting in building up a picture of lifestyle and diet of skeletal remains at archaeological sites, determining the gender of unidentified individuals, age estimation of both the living and the deceased, recognition and analysis of bite marks found on victims of attack and in other substances such as foodstuffs and presenting evidence in court as an expert witness.