A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Odontological Examination at the NFS from 2007 to 2010.

Lee, Saebomi; Lim, Sang Beom; Kim, Dal Won; Chung, Ik Jo; Kim, Na Yi; Lee, Sang Seob

Original article

Korean Journal of Legal Medicine 2011;35(1):32-41.
Published online May 31, 2011.

A Statistical Analysis on Forensic Odontological Examination at the NFS from 2007 to 2010.

Saebomi Lee, Sang Beom Lim, Dal Won Kim, Ik Jo Chung, Na Yi Kim, Sang Seob Lee

Division of Forensic Medicine, National Forensic Service, Seoul, Korea. komiyama@korea.kr

Abstract

Analysis of the cases registered for the Forensic Odontology Lab of the National Forensic Service (NFS) from April 6th, 2007 to December 2010 was performed to observe the trend and pattern of the cases, in order to propose measures for improvement in future cases both in quantity as well as quality. High rate of cases were observed from the capital area, especially in ground and mountains during warmer season from June to October. Most of the cases were of human remains requested and examined for the estimation of age, sex, stature and identification. However, some of the requested criteria were applied forensic methods such as postmortem interval, cause of death, and facial reconstruction which could not be conducted. To better fulfill the needs of the society, reform of the current registration-examination system by introducing a multi-disciplinary team for processing the scene, education of the law enforcement personnel, research and acquiring funds for the relevant areas, developing antemortem dental record database are recommended for improvement in quantity and quality of the information produced by odontology lab.

Key Words: forensic odontology, forensic anthropology, National Forensic Service