Odontologia legal Departamento Médico Legal (DML) de Porto Alegre : métodos utilizados para identificação humana.

Abstract

There are several methods currently used for human identification in Institutes of Legal Medicine. However, it is of utmost importance, the forensic dentist use them in a specific and proper way for each case. The objective of this study is to identify the most used methods, by the forensic dentists in the Department of Legal Medicine (DML) of the city of Porto Alegre, for human identification. In this cross-sectional study, 99 expert reports of unknown skeletons were evaluated, in the period of January 2012 to June 2015. The most used method in the attempt of human identification was the DNA extraction from teeth, followed by the comparison of medical records associated with DNA and images, and X-rays also associated with the DNA. It was possible to conclude that the forensic dentist´s role in expertise scope is important; however, it is very specific to the use of several methods that literature proposes.