ABSTRACT
Dental identification is an important aspect of mass disasters to identify the victims, in order to return the remains to the family and have a proper burial. There was a plane crash (Sriwijaya Air SJ-182 Boeing 737-500) occurred on January 9th, 2021 from Jakarta to Pontianak route that took off from Soekarno-Hatta Cengkareng Airport. The crash caused 62 fatalities. Fifty-nine victims were identified or as much as 95.16% of the total number of passengers, with 13 victims identified by fingerprint, 46 victims identified by DNA analysis, and no victim identified by dental examination. The identification process is done by dental examination as this is a primary forensic identifier. Dental examination was carried out by forensic odontologists by collecting post-mortem and antemortem data, then compared to obtain a match identification. In fact, only 9 passengers had complete dental data. Antemortem DVI team faced obstacles in collecting dental data, such as the victim never visiting a dentist and incomplete dental data from the dentist. Due to the lack of dental findings from dental records in Indonesian society, the writers hope to get interference from PDGI and the government in emphasizing the importance of dental records, such as providing prospective dental students through dental educational institutions, as well as collaboration between PDGI and the government, to socialize the importance of routine dental check-ups, and also government intervention in collecting dental record databases such as personal identification.
