Forensic application of the frontal and maxillary sinuses: A literature review

•The study of anatomical peculiarities enables human identification.•The analysis of the frontal sinus may be regarded as a safe method.•Studies based on the maxillary sinus analysis has shown satisfactory results.

This study aimed to point out the contribution of the frontal and maxillary sinuses for Forensic Sciences, specifically in Forensic Dentistry. For this, a review was performed with 30 articles comprised in the period 2003–2014, about the application of the frontal and maxillary sinuses for human identification and sex determination, using the search words: Frontal Sinus, Maxillary Sinus, Human Identification, and Sex Differences. It was observed that the frontal and maxillary sinuses are useful for human identification. In relation to sex determination, there is no agreement about the applicability of the frontal sinus, although authors suggest that further studies should be performed to verify if it can be employed as an auxiliary method; but regarding the analysis of the maxillary sinus, this has shown satisfactory results. Thus, is possible conclude that the frontal and maxillary sinuses provide important information to the forensic context in cases involving human identification and, in the case of the maxillary sinus, allow the sex determination.