"Bite of Crime": Workshop on Forensic Odontology

The Manipal Academy of Higher Education Student Research Forum (MUSRF) of Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore conducted “Bite of Crime”, a workshop on Forensic Dentistry on 11th April, 2016, which was attended by 270 delegates. This workshop is the third of the interactive series conducted by MUSRF since its inception, a year ago. Dr. Ashith B. Acharya, pioneer of forensic odontology in India was the resource person for the workshop.

April 18, 2016

Ms. Sanchitha Chandar, President of the research forum gave a brief insight to the activities of the forum and welcomed the gathering.

The Chief Guest, Dr. Sanjeev M. Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (Crime and Traffic) of Mangalore City Police, gave a brief description of the crime scene and the importance of dental evidence in solving a crime. He also recommended inclusion of crime scene visitation as part of the dental curriculum.

Dr. Suresh Kumar Shetty, Head of Forensic Medicine, KMC Mangalore was the guest of honour. He suggested that forensic medicine and forensic odontologists should work as a team. 

Dr. Dilip G. Naik, Dean Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore, presided over the function. He commended the work done by the staff mentors of the research forum Dr. Ravikiran, Dr. Swati and Dr. Joanna and congratulated the students for their enthusiasm for participating in research activities, particularly this workshop. He said, Manipal Academy of Higher Education has always been at the forefront in encouraging student research.

Sana Chawla, Secretary of MUSRF proposed the vote of thanks. She appreciated the efforts of her colleagues Hussain Lokhandwala, Vice president and Ms. Sanjana, treasurer of MUSRF.

The inaugural function was followed by an interesting lecture by Dr. Ashith B. Acharya, where he discussed several cases to explain Age Estimation, tooth identification, sex prediction and identification of bite marks. Following this, hands on workshop was conducted, where the students had an opportunity to practice digital methods of age estimation and bite mark identification.