A contribuição dos métodos radiográficos na odontologia legal

Abstract

Human identification is one of the main activities performed by Forensic Dentistry. For identification purposes, images analysis have been used with great frequency, based on the comparison of radiographic examinations in life and after death. The objective is to evaluate the history of radiology and the radiographic methods used in forensic dentistry. The present study is a literature review in which a literature search was conducted in the Lilacs, Medline, and Scielo databases, including only articles and books available in full, and that were related to the theme. Radiology plays a fundamental role in human identification, and several are its identification methods, the main ones being intraoral periapical radiography, which makes a comparison of an ante-mortem and post-mortem radiography; panoramic radiography, which helps in the visualization of numerous structures that can assist in the identification, and finally, computed tomography, which does not present superimpositions of structures, and being performed before the necropsy, helps to determine the cause.