Review articlePost-Mortem Forensic Dental Radiography - a review of current techniques and future developments

Forensic odontology has long been an essential discipline in the post-mortem identification of human remains, the determination of the age of live subjects and in wider aspects of forensic investigation. It continues to be a rapidly developing field.Much of forensic dental identification is based upon the comparison of one set of records with another. Aside from the documented dental records, casts and photographs, radiographs and scans are one of the main sources of evidence. Previous scans and radiographs can be compared with contemporaneous images taken of the subject. In the identification of the deceased, these examinations will be performed on the cadaver.This paper reviews the current contribution of post-mortem dental radiography to forensic dental investigation, discussing its applications, equipment and techniques used and their relative advantages and disadvantages. It discusses possible future developments within the field and highlights the opportunities and challenges that face forensic dental imaging practitioners.