European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Forensic odontology is considered to be the subdiscipline of dentistry which analyses dental evidence in the interest of justice. Oral pathology is the sub group of dentistry that deals with the pathology affecting the oral and maxillofacial regions. This field is used for identification through oral and maxillofacial pathologies along with associated syndromes, different patterns like in enamel rods, determining sex using exfoliative cytology, even from occlusal morphology, and deoxyribonucleic acid profiling from teeth. This subdiscipline can also be utilized for estimating age with methods like Gustafson’s method, incremental lines of Retzius, perikymata, natal line formation in teeth, neonatal line, racemization of collagen in dentin, incremental lines and thickness of cementum,even by translucency of dentin. Even though the expertise of an oral pathologist till now is not used in forensic investigations, this paper thus aims to discuss the role of oral pathology in forensic investigation.