Improving Postmortem Dental Profiling: The Integration of Intraoral Scanners in Dental Autopsies

Abstract

Forensic odontology plays a crucial role in human identification, particularly in cases where traditional identification methods face challenges such as severe trauma, decomposition, skeletonization, or carbonization. The evolution of digital dentistry has significantly advanced dental autopsies, particularly through the use of intraoral scanners (IOSs). These devices provide a non-invasive and efficient method for capturing detailed impressions of dentition and photographic images of teeth. The benefits of intraoral scanning in analyzing human remains in forensic odontology are endless. Digital impressions can be easily stored, shared, and transmitted electronically, eliminating the need for physical storage or transportation of dental models. This technology also enables remote postmortem dental profiling. By combining digital models with antemortem dental records, forensic odontologists can more efficiently identify matches and discrepancies, with the added benefit of future advancements in artificial intelligence(AI). Intraoral scanning should be considered a routine process in all dental autopsies to improve postmortem dental data collection and archive. Forensic odontologists should be equipped with a portable X-ray device, a digital sensor, and an IOS.

Keywords

Dental autopsy / Dental impression technique / Intraoral scanner / Identification / Forensic dentistry / Patient identification system / Forensic odontology

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to express gratitude to all the volunteer odontologists and anthropologists working in the Human Identification and Forensic Odontology Laboratory in Turin for their invaluable assistance in the post-mortem dental profiling of unidentified human remains.

Ethics Statement

Not applicable.

Informed Consent Statement

Not applicable.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The author declares that he has no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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