Forensic Dentist The Sherlock Holmes in Dentistry

Forensic dentistry, or forensic odontology, is defined as: “the area of dentistry concerned with the correct management, examination, evaluation, and presentation of dental evidence in criminal or civil legal proceedings in the interest of justice.”

 

In forensic Dentistry- dental anatomy and radiographs can be used for identification of the dead.  Even if the jaw isn't intact, teeth are nearly indestructible. They survive long after other parts of the body have decayed into dust. They even survive fires and cremation. Forensic dentists can now extract and compare the DNA from the remaining pulp within the teeth and compare it to the DNA of relatives for identification.

  It doesn't take much DNA. Even in a tooth with a root canal, there's more than enough DNA for testing. It needn't be fresh either. Scientists were able to extract DNA from the Dead Sea Scrolls. They were written on parchment, and parchment is made from animal skins. Take one animal skin, scrape the hair off, soak it in lime, stretch until very thin, and let it dry. Presto. Parchment. Well, maybe not so presto.

  It was the Greeks who started using animal parchment on a big scale. They had to. Previously, they wrote everything on paper scrolls made from papyrus. They wrote so much that they ran out of papyrus. It only grew in the Nile delta and the demand was so great that it was over-harvested almost to extinction. Sound familiar? By analyzing the DNA extracted from the scrolls, scientists were able to determine that the parchments were made from goat skins and radiocarbon dated most of them to the first century B.C.E.

  DNA has been used to date even older objects. Recently, doctors from Massachusetts used a laparoscope to extract a tooth from a 4,000-year-old mummified skull. Using what little remained of the DNA from the desiccated pulp, they were able to identify both age and gender. An even more incredible bit of genetic detective work2 was tracking down the source of a summertime favorite – corn on the cob. There's no other plant like it that grows wild anywhere in the world. Scientists were able to track down the ancestry of corn to maize, a plant domesticated by early native Americans, but the trail went cold from there.

  In the 1930s, a geneticist named George Beadle discovered that the chromosomes of maize were very similar to a Mexican grass called teosinte (tay-o-sin-tee). But teosinte looks more like a stunted rice stalk than corn, with only a dozen seeds inside a stony case. Most scientists thought that the differences were just too great to have evolved in just a few thousand years. Dr. Beadle persevered, crossing and re-crossing corn and maize plants, eventually growing 50,000 descendents that looked very much like both parents. Then along came DNA typing and Dr. John Doebley. His team collected 60 samples of teosinte from everywhere it grew and compared their DNA to every known variety of maize. They were all genetically similar, but the scientists were able to pinpoint one particular species of teosinte that was the closest genetic match. Its "ear" is only 4 cm long and it only grows in the Balsas river valley in southern Mexico, making that the cradle of modern corn. Some 9,000 years ago, neolithic farmers began domesticating this little grass into what would eventually become maize.

  How do we know domestication began 9,000 years ago? It turns out that there's a lot more information that can be coaxed out of DNA than just its similarity to other DNA.(Source:- Here)

 

• A basic dental component of forensics is the collection and documentation of patient information.
• A second aspect of forensics is anthropology. Anthropology is simply the study of humanity. Forensic anthropology, however, is the combination or application of physical anthropology and human osteology (study of the human skeleton) to help the law identify human remains that have been mutilated or burned.
• entomology-third aspect of forensic. when body or dead body starts decomposing insects arrives- Can insects tell time? Perhaps not; but time, particularly time of death, can be determined by insects and their arrival to the corpse. Forensics can determine the time of death as the body begins to decompose by the type of insects that are on the body at the point of discovery. When and if time of death is called into question, conditions can be duplicated and an entomological timeline can be established. 
• Prevalent in this timeline are temperature, whether the body was found indoors or outdoors, and if the body was found clothed or naked. The dental hygienist should concentrate heavily in the biological sciences if there is a strong interest in forensic entomology. In addition, study in this area, along with a strong background in chemistry, can lead to how bioterrorists can use insects to infest and destroy not only agriculture but invade humans by becoming vectors of deadly diseases.
• When searching for additional educational or career opportunities, academic advisors might suggest anthropology as a way to blend interests. Dentistry and anthropology make a good team. Studying teeth the way the anthropologist does introduces a perspective that is different from that of the dental professional. There are courses in dental anthropology that dental hygiene students can take as electives.
• Forensic photography is an element of crime scene investigation that requires the individual to “have a good grasp of photographic terminology and the skills for operating basic camera equipment.”

If you are interested in forensic dentistry, here are some suggestions to get you started:

1. Establish a network of other dental hygienists interested in forensics. Discussing topics with colleagues in small groups or larger meetings may lead to opportunities to do some type of fieldwork.
2. Join organizations and subscribe to journals or magazines to learn more about forensic science.
3. Team up with an office and work under the supervision of a forensic dentist. The dental hygienist should encourage the dentist he/she works with to leave his/her name with local law enforcement officials and indicate a willingness to be on call to expose traditional or digital radiographs, take impressions, and chart human remains or assist in collecting bitemark evidence from victims and/or suspects in crimes, including domestic violence and elder or child abuse.

SOURCE- Here

"I AM GLAD THAT DENTISTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE HELPING PEOPLE BY BRINGING JUSTICE WITH THE HELP OF FORENSIC DENTISTRY."