Time to Materialize Dental Digitization for Disaster Victim Identification in India

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n9.015

Keywords:

Artificial intelligence, dental digitization, disaster victim identification, forensic odontologists, Indian dental software

Abstract

This article highlights the immense potential of developing and utilizing a robust digital dental software in India. Once implemented, such software can revolutionize disaster victim identification, offering unparalleled benefits in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The occurrence of mass disasters in our country has surged in recent times, highlighting the urgent need for advanced identification methods. Dental evidence, known for its high reliability, is a crucial tool for the comparative and reconstructive identification of individuals. In the era of digital transformation, forensics is also evolving. The digital dental software used by forensic odontologists in various countries has been a game-changer, enabling them to swiftly and accurately identify victims of mass disasters and missing persons. Given this situation, digitizing dental records and developing robust dental software for India have become essential. We require dental software that can input, store, analyze, compare, and generate valuable output, potentially aiding government organizations to resolve forensic cases more efficiently than ever before. The integration of the dental biometric tool and other dental features in the Indian dental software, along with its combination with the leading artificial intelligence tool, can significantly enhance the creation of biological profiles, including individual identity, age estimation, gender determination, facial reconstruction, and bite mark analysis. This integration will assist forensic odontologists in meticulously identifying individuals more accurately.

Author Biographies

Somya Soin, Senior Dentist, Doctors Plaza, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi- 110026, India

Dr. Somya Soin earned her M.Sc. Forensic Dentistry from the School of Medico-Legal Studies at National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India in 2024. Before that, she received her Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.) from Sudha Rustagi College of Dental Sciences & Research, Faridabad, Haryana, India in 2021. Currently, she is working as a Senior Dentist at Doctors Plaza, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi and holds the position of Senior Faculty at C.A.S.E. 23 Official, and Advisory Board Member at Tech Forensic Investigation & Global Research (TFIGR). Earlier, she has also served as an intern at Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Delhi and National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Delhi. She has various publications and has been felicitated by many awards for Best Scientific Paper and Poster Presentations at National and International conferences. She has been invited to various institutions for delivering guest lectures and taking comprehensive workshops based on forensic odontology and anthropology.

Hardi Mendpara, Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic Dentistry, School of Medico-Legal Studies, National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat- 382007, India

Dr. Hardi Mendpara received her Bachelor of Dental Surgery (B.D.S.) with First Class from AMC Dental College, Ahmedabad, India (2009–2014). She practised general dentistry for two years before completing her Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Forensic Dentistry with double gold medals (2016–2018). She is currently pursuing a PhD in Forensic Odontology. Dr. Mendpara has one year of industry experience as a Medical Analyst in a multinational company and has been serving as an Assistant Professor at National Forensic Sciences University since 2020. She is a lifetime member of the Indian Association of Forensic Odontology. She has contributed to many cases of forensic odontology, which are referred to the department of Forensic Dentistry. She is the Program Coordinator for Forensic Dentistry, an NSS Program Officer, and a Scholarship Coordinator. Her academic contributions include three peer-reviewed publications and one book chapter.

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Published

15-09-2025

How to Cite

Soin, S., & Mendpara, H. (2025). Time to Materialize Dental Digitization for Disaster Victim Identification in India . RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 10(9), 122–130. https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2025.v10.n9.015

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Vol. 10 No. 9 (2025): RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary

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Articles

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This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).