Forensics in Pediatric Dentistry

Abstract

Pediatric dentistry is a dental specialty dealing with treatment in children and young individuals. Forensic dentistry deals with the legal implications of dentistry and scrutinizes dental evidence for justice. Pediatric dental professionals can play an imperative role in the identification process by using age estimation methods, radiographic interpretation of tooth calcification, tooth maturation and eruption sequence, and clinical assessment of the previous restorative, endodontic, or orthodontic therapy and oral and maxillofacial anomalies. They can also assist forensic investigations by recognizing cases of child abuse and dental neglect. This paper aims to highlight important and unexplored features of the forensic part of pediatric dentistry, the explicit role of the pediatric dentist and the research avenues which need to be explored.