Authors: Sona A Sheth, Ashish S Sharma, Devarshi J Pandya, Hamza S Kachwala, Manali D Vora, Riya G Talavia.
Background: Forensic Odontology is based on fact that, the natural teeth can withstand degradation from extreme conditions even after the death of an individual. Hence, teeth are considered to be very crucial for identification during the investigative procedures, especially when there is lack of any other evidence.
Aims: To analyze the level of awareness, feasibility and future perspective of Forensic Odontology among private dental practitioners of Ahmedabad City, Gujarat.
Materials and Methods: It is a cross-sectional study, in which 210 private dental practitioners participated voluntarily from each of the six zones of Ahmedabad. The sample size was assessed using simple random sampling and then it was divided in six zones by stratified random sampling. A self administered structured questionnaire with a multiple-choice question was designed. Chi-square test was done using SPSS version 20 software.
Results: In this study, we found that >50% of dentists are aware of regarding the basic principles of Forensic Odontology and >70% of dentists maintain Patient’s details as dental records followed by radiographs. A significant finding was that around 58.7% and 72.7% of dentists were aware regarding testifying as an expert witness in court to present dental evidence and the awareness of any formal training courses of Forensic Odntology in the country respectively.
Conclusions: The dentists were aware regarding basic principles of Forensic Odontology but they reveal poor attitude and practice regarding implementing it in everyday life. Hence there is dire need of organizing training programmes/conferences/workshops on forensic odontology.
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