Awareness of dental students about forensic odontology in Karachi, Pakistan

Forensic odontology is a neglected field of dentistry despite its importance in profession. It must be considered as part of dental curriculum and undergraduate students must have insight into the subject. The objective of this study was to evaluate the awareness of dental graduates regarding forensic dentistry in Karachi, Pakistan.

A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June 2019 among different dental colleges of Karachi. About 500 participants including house officers, postgraduate trainees, and dental teaching faculty were recruited through convenience sampling. Inclusion criteria were undergraduate and graduate dental students of recognized dental colleges who verbally consented for study. All quacks and non-registered practitioners were excluded. A predesigned questionnaire was used to collect data which consists of two sections, i.e., basic demographic data and knowledge of dental practitioners regarding forensic dentistry, respectively. Data collected were entered and analyzed on SPSS.

Women were major participants, i.e., 68.29% (n = 341). 55.80% (n = 279) of participants were postgraduate trainees. Approximately, 61.20% (n = 306) of people believed in significance of maintaining dental record. In 67.80% (n = 339) of cases, investigators could estimate age of victim while 49.20% (n = 246) could identify gender. 46.20% (n = 231) of participants agreed that forensic odontology helped in testification as an expert witness. The most accurate method for identification was an anthological examination, followed by fingerprints, serological, and visual identification. Whereas, 47.80% (n = 239) of participants knew the identification of a person with the help of bite mark, majority of participants (90.00%, n = 450) suggested that awareness programs must be initiated.

The awareness of dentists regarding forensic dentistry is judiciously sufficient and knowledge of maintaining dental records was satisfactory. Burly initiatives must be taken to develop the specialty in Karachi.