Current State of Knowledge and Attitudes of Dentists in Forensic Medicine

Objectives: Post-mortem identification of unidentified individuals is carried out using either DNA, dental records or fingerprints (until advanced decomposition prevents their examination). Access to ante-mortem data during a post-mortem odontological identification search is difficult. There is currently no national database centralising dental information. The aim of the study is to assess the attitudes and knowledge of dentists (in private practice) regarding the use of panoramic radiography, their dental software and identification alerts.
Methods: A questionnaire will be sent to the dentists. This will allow the reliability and frequency of use of panoramic radiography as a radiographic tool to be assessed.
Results: The results will be qualitative responses as well as a quantification of their use of the panoramic in the office.
Conclusions: To date, there has been very few research on this topic, we have only found one article from 2020 that approaches our problem. On a practical level, the creation of the database would make it possible to more quickly and accurately compare the ante-mortem and post-mortem radiographic data of a person in search of identification. And not just for criminals, as is currently the case with DNA and fingerprint files.