Forensic importance of panoramic radiographs for human identification

Abstract

Human identification is a procedure of great importance for the proceedings instituted in the various spheres of law, and is also required by the community for cultural or religious reasons. Among the processes of identification, the technique of forensic dentistry is a comparative methodology in which it is necessary for the person to be identified to have his dental characteristics recorded in some kind of documentation produced during his lifetime. In this context, panoramic radiographs are extra-oral images often requested by dentists due to the broad view structures of the oral-maxillofacial complex, which assist in obtaining the diagnosis and definition of the treatment plan. In this study, a case of human identification was reported using a panoramic x-ray, produced more than seven years earlier to support the planning of dental treatment. The radiographic comparison was made possible because a post-mortem panoramic x-ray was produced, allowing the viewing of anatomical and reconstructive features with a quality and quantity sufficient to safely establish a positive correlation between the skeletonized corpse and the missing person.