Importance and Maintenance of Dental Records- Are Dentists aware? A survey among Private Dental Practitioners

Abstract

Introduction:Forensic expertise, including dental ide ntification and expertise in civillitigation cases related to dental malpractice and injuries mostly count on dental records.Comparison of dental data obtained from the deceased person with dental data obtained bythe dentist from the person’s life is a primary method of identification through dentalevidence.Materialand Methodology: In all, 180 dentists participated in an online survey. Questionscovered general information on dentists, maintenance of dental records, and knowledge oflegal requirements and forensic odontology.Results:66.6% of dentists said that they update patients’ data on every visit. 86.6% of dentistswere aware of the use of Dental records in Forensic Odontology. 89.9% of dentists were notaware of how they should present the data when asked by the legal authority whereas only10.1% of Dentists were aware of how they are supposed to provide the data. The percentageof dentists who knew how long they are legally mandated to keep patient records showed asignificant difference (p<0.0 5) between BDS (Bachelors of Dental Surgery) and MDS(Masters of Dental Surgery) practitioners.Conclusion:Dentists being aware of forensic odontology, still lack the information about thelegal aspects of it. Forensic odontology should be included in the curriculum as a separatesubject to improve knowledge at the grassroots level. The focus should also be improvedtowards raising the awareness among private practitioners regarding the practical aspect offorensic odontology.