Forensic outlook of Maxillofacial Radiology – An inevitable tool revisited

Abstract

Radiology has a wide range of application in the field of forensic dentistry and has set many benchmarks over decades. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the applications where radiographic methods may be used to determine the identity.  Age and gender determination, craniofacial reconstruction, mass disasters, trauma and abuse and virtopsy has been reviewed in this paper with focus on two dimensional and three dimensional imaging modalities highlighting the recent advancements incorporated in these techniques.  The radiologists’ play a pivotal role in cases of civil litigation and fraud. There are gaps to be bridged between forensic speciality and maxillofacial imaging. Henceforth, this article offers several suggestions for possible research projects to close some of these gaps.