Exploring digitization in forensic odontology: a current review of practices and recent advances

Abstract Background and objective Scientific methods and technologies are growing rapidly in the 21st century. However, natural catastrophes, mass disasters and criminal activities continue to persist in human society. In these situations, identification of the deceased proves to be a challenging task for medico-legal professionals, as in many such cases, dead bodies are highly fragmented, mutilated, and are not in a situation of being identified by facial and external body features. If adequate ante-mortem (AM) and post-mortem (PM) data are available, the techniques of forensic odontology may contribute greatly to the identification of the deceased. The present narrative review highlights the importance of digital methods over conventional methods used in forensic odontology and the importance of dental remains in personal identification. Main body Exploring this application, literature was searched from “PubMed”, “PubMed Central”, “Scopus” and “Web of Science” using relevant keywords. The relevant publications were further scrutinized and included in the present review. Traditional methods of dental data collection have a number of inherent issues, including poor and incomplete documentation of dental charting, written dental records, and dental profiles, the use of local language in recording the dental profile, and the use of different or non-standardized terminology that may be difficult for a forensic anthropologist or odontologist to understand. These issues may pose a significant challenge in understanding the AM data available at the time of comparison, ultimately delaying the identification process. The digital techniques and artificial intelligence have the potential to substantially enhance the quality of forensic examination by improving the efficiency, accessibility, and interoperability of records. In mass disaster cases with high casualties, digital techniques facilitate the rapid and seamless cross-border transfer of victim data that greatly accelerates the identification process. Conclusion The practical application of advances in artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an important role in improving the analysis of digital dental evidence, resulting in greater accuracy, efficiency, and reliability in forensic investigations. Digital techniques such as 2D and 3D superimposition methods, digital radiographs, and 3D surface scans, may solve the problems of conventional methods.