Cargando…

Awareness of Forensic Odontology among Legal Professionals, Chennai, India

BACKGROUND: The forensic discipline of law is a multidisciplinary team comprising of specialists in forensic medicine, forensic odontology, security and law. AIM: The study was to find the awareness level of scope and utility of forensic odontology among lawyers in Chennai, South India. MATERIALS AN...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Selvajothi, Packiaraj, Lavanya, Chandra, Joshua, Elizabeth, Rao, Umadevi K., Ranganathan, Kannan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Medknow Publications & Media Pvt Ltd 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4264289/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25535602
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/1947-2714.145459
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: The forensic discipline of law is a multidisciplinary team comprising of specialists in forensic medicine, forensic odontology, security and law. AIM: The study was to find the awareness level of scope and utility of forensic odontology among lawyers in Chennai, South India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a self administered structured questionnaire was conducted in 200 lawyers between August and September of 2013. The data was analyzed depending on age, gender, type and years of practice. RESULTS: Lawyers above 40 years of experience were more aware of palatal rugae analysis (P = 0.02), and those with more than 20 years were aware of lip print (P = 0.001) and bite mark analysis (P = 0.001). Males were more aware of forensic odontology with respect to criminal identification (P = 0.001). The knowledge of bite mark analysis was higher among male lawyers (P = 0.001), civil and criminal practicing lawyers (P = 0.004). All participants were aware that loss or fracture of tooth constitutes a grievous injury under Indian Penal Code (IPC) 320 clause 7(5). CONCLUSION: This study highlighted the knowledge of forensic odontology among legal professionals and also identified the areas in which they need further appraisal.