ABSTRACT
Mass disaster victim identification procedures should be conducted according to Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) guidelines published by INTERPOL. INTERPOL established techniques used in the identification process as follows: Primary Identifiers (consisting of fingerprints, dental records, and DNA) and secondary identifiers (consisting of medical, property, and photography). The phases of the DVI process are scene, postmortem examination, antemortem information retrieval, and reconciliation. Dental radiography is a vital tool utilized in DVI process particularly in the course of postmortem examination since it is a simple and noninvasive technique that could depict body fragments that cannot be seen clinically. Radiology is an integral part of a multi-discipline that plays a vital role in the mass disaster victim identification process. The purpose of this study is to describe the operational procedures and utilization of postmortem radiography in mass disaster identification. This study is a narrative review. Databases used in this narrative review are Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct. The search results were selected based on the title and abstract according to their relevance to the topic. Dental radiography procedures in the postmortem examination phase should be performed by a dental radiologist along with a forensic odontologist in the odontologist team. Dental radiography in the postmortem examination phase has some different procedures compared to procedures in living persons due to modifications in a technique related to corpse condition or human body remains. The differences include the type of radiography machine, type of techniques, support tools, and radiation protection. Periapical radiography and bitewing techniques are two of the most commonly used intraoral radiographic techniques in the identification process to produce postmortem radiographs. Postmortem radiography is a vital tool in mass disaster identification. Despite it having some different procedures compared to a living person yet still prioritizes radiation protection.
