The relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic odonto-stomatology from 2005 to 2012.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of information about the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology. This study aimed to find the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology from 2005 to 2012 over an 8-year period.
METHODS: Bibliometric analysis was performed using web-based search during December 2013.
RESULTS: Out of the total 97 published articles, the maximum number of published articles were related to oral medicine and radiology (20) and community dentistry (20), followed by orthodontics (18), prosthodontics (15), and oral pathology and microbiology (8), pedodontics (7), oral and maxillofacial surgery (4) and conservative dentistry and endodontics (3). Among the articles published in Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology, mass disasters (10) and bite mark analysis (10), followed by sexual dimorphism (8) and dental fraud and malpractice (8), followed by craniofacial superimposition (6) and identification (6) form the major attraction of the contributors.
CONCLUSION: This paper has tried to evaluate the new working classification proposed for forensic odontology based on its relationship with other dental specialties.

INTRODUCTION

Forensic odontology is a legal field of dentistry, which deals with the proper handling and examination of dental evidence and with the proper evaluation and presentation of dental findings in the interest of justice.[1] A working classification about the interrelationship of nine individual dental specialties with forensic odontology was formulated, and a detailed review about the relationship of these dental specialties with forensic odontology was ascertained.[23]

The main objective of this study is to find the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology from 2005 to 2012.

METHODS

Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Ethics Committee. All of the protocols for this study were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. The author has no known conflict of interest associated with the study and there has been no significant financial support for this work that could have influenced its outcome. A total of 16 issues of Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology from 2005 to 2012 were analyzed. This was available on the journal website http://www.iofos.eu/JFOSOnline2.html (Last accessed on 2013 Dec 30). The article contents were scrutinized based on the relationship of forensic odontology with other dental specialties. The contents of the published articles were categorized into nine individual dental specialty articles based on the new working classification proposed for forensic odontology.[2] The dental specialties considered were oral pathology and microbiology, oral medicine and radiology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, pedodontics, periodontics, conservative dentistry and endodontics, prosthodontics, orthodontics and finally community dentistry. The section on editorial, book review and conference proceedings in Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology were excluded from the study.

RESULTS

The relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology from 2005 to 2012 is summarized in Table 1.

Table 1

The relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialities in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology from 2005 to 2012

DISCUSSION

There is a paucity of information about the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties in the articles published in the Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology. Regarding the relationship with various dental specialties, the maximum number of published articles were related to oral medicine and radiology (20) and community dentistry (20), followed by orthodontics (18), prosthodontics (15), and oral pathology and microbiology (8), pedodontics (7), oral and maxillofacial surgery (4) and conservative dentistry and endodontics (3). Two articles dealing with forensic anthropology were excluded from the study since it has no relationship with dental specialties based on the new working classification for forensic odontology.[2] In a recent study done on publication trends of a forensic odontology journal from India, regarding the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties, the maximum numbers of published articles were related to oral medicine and radiology (30), followed by oral pathology and microbiology (16), prosthodontics (14), and orthodontics (10) and community dentistry (5).[4] Regarding the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties, the maximum number of published articles were related to oral medicine and radiology in both journals (Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology and Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences).

Among the articles published in Journal of Forensic Odonto-Stomatology, mass disasters (10) and bite mark analysis (10) followed by sexual dimorphism (8) and dental fraud and malpractice (8) followed by craniofacial superimposition (6) and identification (6) form the major attraction of the contributors. In Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences, cheiloscopy (12) followed by palatal rugoscopy (9), sexual dimorphism (6) and cephalometrics (4) form the major attraction of the contributors.[4] The dental specialty such as periodontics was untouched over 8-year publication. In Journal of Forensic Dental Sciences, the two dental specialties such as oral and maxillofacial surgery and periodontics were untouched over 4 years publication.[4] Under periodontics specialty, the editorial board should include articles about age estimation using periodontosis (gum recession), root transparency and root length and identification using gingival morphology and pathology and thickness and widening of periodontal ligament and pathology and status of alveolar bone.[2]

The main limitation of this study is that the data is taken from only one journal to study the relationship of forensic odontology with various dental specialties.

CONCLUSION

To sum up, this paper has tried to evaluate the new working classification proposed for forensic odontology based on its relationship with other dental specialties.