ABSTRACT
Forensic odontology has become an integral part of forensic medicine. Forensic odontology has played a key role in identifying people in mass disasters, crime investigations, ethnic studies, and in identifying decomposed and disfigured bodies, like those of drowned persons, fire victims, and victims of motor vehicle accidents. What follows is a discussion of different topics covered by the forensic odontology specialty, promoting the work of dental experts in the multidisciplinary team identification, according to international standards and globalizing philosophies. Forensic odontology assists society in accomplishing this through comparison of antemortem and postmortem data to identify the corpse. The establishment of forensic odontology as a unique discipline has been attributed to Dr. Oscar Amoedo, who identified the victims of a fire accident in Paris, France, in 1898. With the passage of time, the role of forensic odontology has increased, as very often teeth and dental restorations are the only means of identification.
