The role of orthodontics in children identification: a case report of two victims of mass disaster.

INTRODUCTION: Human Identification based on dental evidence cannot be accomplished if antemortem dental records are unavailable or of poor quality. The involvement of the orthodontist in mass disaster victim identification processes may be crucial in relation to the amount and quality of the records which can be obtained before, during, and following the treatment. AIM: The aim of the study is the description of the contribution of the findings drawn from orthodontic records to the identification of victims of mass disasters who had received an orthodontic treatment, through the presentation of two cases. The first case involves the identification of a child victim of a plane crash and the second case involves the identification of two identical twin girls who died in a fire. In both cases, the identification was based on the findings obtained from the ante-mortem records provided by the orthodontist. CONCLUSIONS: The orthodontists apply customized orthodontic appliances and keep a comprehensive file of images, casts, radiographs, and other records in their practice. As a result, they can make a substantial contribution to the identification of young people or even adult victims of mass disasters in any case in which the authorities make a request.

Feasibility of Utilizing Electronic Dental Record Data and Periodontitis Case Definition to Automate Diagnosis.

Periodontitis is an irreversible disease leading to tooth loss, and 42% U.S. population suffers from periodontitis. Hence, diagnosing, monitoring, and determining its prevalence is critical to develop preventive strategies. However, a nationwide epidemiological study estimating the prevalence reported a concern about the discontinuation of such studies due to cost and ethical reasons. Therefore, this study determined the feasibility of utilizing electronic dental record (EDR) data and periodontitis case definition to automate periodontitis diagnosis. We utilized EDR data from the Indiana University School of Dentistry of 28,908 unique patients. We developed and tested a computer algorithm to diagnose periodontitis using the case definition. We found 44%, 22%, and 1% of patients with moderate, severe, and mild periodontitis, respectively. The algorithm worked with 100% sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy because of the excellent quality of the EDR data. We concluded the feasibility of providing automated periodontitis diagnosis from EDR data to conduct epidemiological studies across the US.

Utilizing Electronic Dental Records to Predict Neuro-Degenerative Diseases in a Dental Setting: A Pilot Study.

Limited research demonstrates the possible correlations between dental diseases and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Nevertheless, dental diseases are often overlooked while assessing the risk of AD and PD in clinical settings. It is unknown whether AD/PD risk can be predicted using electronic dental record (EDR) data collected in a routine dental setting. This pilot study determined the feasibility of predicting AD/PD using 84 features routinely captured in the EDR. We utilized the Temple University School of Dentistry clinic data of 27,138 patients. Using a natural language processing (NLP) approach (accuracy=97%), we identified patients with AD/PD and their matched controls (matched by age and gender). XGBoost machine learning model with 10-fold cross-validation was applied for prediction. With 77% accuracy, we found 53 features significantly associated with AD/PD that could be utilized to predict the risk of AD/PD. Further studies are warned to confirm these findings.

Discrepancy in medications reported by elderly patients in the dental office and in their electronic medical records: A pilot study.

AIMS: This study's main objective was to analyze the discrepancy between the dental medication record (DMR) and the physician-prescribed active medications recorded in the medical medication record (MMR). METHODS: The study group consisted of 100 adults who attended the University Dental Clinic (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) requesting dental care. A dental history was created for all participants that included the DMR. The MMR were compiled from their electronic medical records. RESULTS: About 80% of the patients consumed at least one drug (94.2% of those >65 years) and 19% took more than five drugs (26.4% of those > 65 years). In total, 54% of the patients had some discrepancy between the medications recorded in the DMR and those in the MMR (48.4% for those ≤65 years and 64.7% for those >65 years). The rate of participants who omitted some drugs was higher for those >65 years. The drugs most omitted from the DMR were analgesics/opioids, antihypertensives and anxiolytics/hypnotics/sedatives. CONCLUSIONS: It is imperative to access the MMR of patients requesting dental care because a significant number of medications are not reflected in their DMR. These discrepancies may be particularly common and relevant in elderly patients, in whom multimorbidity and polypharmacy are more frequent.

Predicting sequenced dental treatment plans from electronic dental records using deep learning.

BACKGROUND: Designing appropriate clinical dental treatment plans is an urgent need because a growing number of dental patients are suffering from partial edentulism with the population getting older. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to predict sequential treatment plans from electronic dental records. METHODS: We construct a clinical decision support model, MultiTP, explores the unique topology of teeth information and the variation of complicated treatments, integrates deep learning models (convolutional neural network and recurrent neural network) adaptively, and embeds the attention mechanism to produce optimal treatment plans. RESULTS: MultiTP shows its promising performance with an AUC of 0.9079 and an F score of 0.8472 over five treatment plans. The interpretability analysis also indicates its capability in mining clinical knowledge from the textual data. CONCLUSIONS: MultiTP's novel problem formulation, neural network framework, and interpretability analysis techniques allow for broad applications of deep learning in dental healthcare, providing valuable support for predicting dental treatment plans in the clinic and benefiting dental patients. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The MultiTP is an efficient tool that can be implemented in clinical practice and integrated into the existing EDR system. By predicting treatment plans for partial edentulism, the model will help dentists improve their clinical decisions.

Percepción de la utilidad de los registros dentales como método de identificación humana en profesiones de alto riesgo: el caso de las personas trabajadoras de la Cruz Roja Costarricense / Perception of the usefulness of dental records as a method of human identification in high-risk professions: the case of the Costa Rican Red Cross workers

Introducción: Aquellas personas que brindan atención en situaciones de emergencias están expuestas a un alto riesgo de sufrir lesiones o fallecer durante labores de rescate, sea en accidentes de tránsito, desastres naturales, atentados terroristas o crisis humanitarias generadas por conflictos armados. Esta investigación fue realizada en las personas trabajadoras de la Cruz Roja Costarricense (CRC) para establecer la percepción de la utilidad de los registros dentales como método de identificación y elaborar un formato único de información odontológica antemortem. Materiales y métodos: Un cuestionario piloto fue diseñado y aplicado a 10 personas para ser calibrado y validado. Posteriormente se generó un cuestionario electrónico final en la plataforma Google Forms que fue enviado vía correo electrónico institucional a las personas trabajadoras constituida por 175 individuos, de los cuales 92 respondieron en el período del 20 de noviembre de 2022 al 20 de enero de 2023. Los resultados fueron analizados mediante las distribuciones de frecuencia, cruce de variables, comparación de medias con base en el análisis de variancia. El nivel mínimo de confianza para las comparaciones fue del 95%. Resultados: El cuestionario fue realizado por 92 personas, 75% hombres y 25% mujeres. El rango de edad entre los 36 y 40 años fue el más frecuente (23.9%). El 60,9% labora en la provincia de San José, 58% indica que visitaron al odontólogo hace un año o menos y el 38,6% refiere que nunca les han tomado una radiografía panorámica, un 81,8% dice tener tratamientos dentales como coronas, puentes o implantes; y el 75% considera de gran utilidad los registros dentales como método de identificación, y lo ubican en segundo lugar de conocimiento (89,8%) al compararlo con ADN (97,7%) y dactiloscopia (86,4%). Conclusiones: Las personas trabajadoras de la Cruz Roja Costarricense consideran que los registros odontológicos son útiles en la identificación de seres humanos y cuentan con información antemortem útil para dicho efecto.

Introduction: Those who provide care in emergency situations are exposed to a high risk of injury or death during rescue work, whether in traffic accidents, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, or humanitarian crises generated by armed conflicts. This research was carried out among Costa Rican Red Cross (CRC) workers to establish the perception of the usefulness of dental records as a method of identification and to develop a single format for antemortem dental information. Materials and methods: A pilot questionnaire was designed and applied to 10 persons to be calibrated and validated. Subsequently, a final electronic questionnaire was generated in the Google Forms platform and sent via institutional e-mail to 175 workers, of whom 92 responded during the period from November 20, 2022, to January 20, 2023. The results were analyzed by means of frequency distributions, crossing of variables, and comparison of means based on the analysis of variance. The minimum confidence level for comparisons was 95%. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 92 people, 75% men and 25% women. The age range between 36 and 40 years was the most frequent (23.9%). A total of 60.9% worked in the province of San José, 58% indicated that they had visited the dentist a year ago or less and 38.6% said that they had never had a panoramic X-ray taken, 81.8% said they had dental treatments such as crowns, bridges or implants; and 75% considered dental records to be very useful as a method of identification, and placed it in second place in terms of knowledge (89.8%) when compared with DNA (97.7%) and dactyloscopy (86.4%). Conclusions: Costa Rican Red Cross workers consider dental records to be useful in the identification of human beings and have useful antemortem information for this purpose.

Use GPT-J Prompt Generation with RoBERTa for NER Models on Diagnosis Extraction of Periodontal Diagnosis from Electronic Dental Records.

This study explored the usability of prompt generation on named entity recognition (NER) tasks and the performance in different settings of the prompt. The prompt generation by GPT-J models was utilized to directly test the gold standard as well as to generate the seed and further fed to the RoBERTa model with the spaCy package. In the direct test, a lower ratio of negative examples with higher numbers of examples in prompt achieved the best results with a F1 score of 0.72. The performance revealed consistency, 0.92-0.97 in the F1 score, in all settings after training with the RoBERTa model. The study highlighted the importance of seed quality rather than quantity in feeding NER models. This research reports on an efficient and accurate way to mine clinical notes for periodontal diagnoses, allowing researchers to easily and quickly build a NER model with the prompt generation approach.

Consideraciones normativas y legales del expediente clínico electrónico en odontología / Normative and legal considerations of the electronic clinical record in odontology

La elaboración del expediente clínico es una actividad rutinaria dentro del consultorio dental, éste es la materialización del acto médico, a tra- vés del cual se registra el estado de salud inicial del paciente, así como toda la información relativa al tratamiento recibido. Desde hace algunos años comenzó a promocionarse el expediente clínico electrónico como una herramienta alternativa y novedosa para elaborar este importante documento; sin embargo, la implementación de esta herramienta electrónica no ha podido lograrse en México, dada la gran cantidad de dudas que los odontólogos tienen respecto al conjunto de leyes y normas que regulan al expediente clínico, lo cual genera renuencia por parte de los odontólogos para utilizar esta modalidad de expediente dentro de su consulta diaria. El objetivo del presente artículo es realizar una revisión de la literatura, así como de las leyes y normas vigentes que regulan el expediente clínico en México para esclarecer así la viabilidad de implementarlo dentro del consultorio dental

The preparation of the electronic medical record is a routine activity in the dental office, this is the materialization of the medical act, through which the initial health status of the patient is recorded, as well as all the information related to the received treatment. A few years ago, the electronic clinical record began to be promoted as a novel alternative tool to prepare this important document, however, the implementation of this electronic tool has not been achieved in Mexico, given the large number of doubts that dentists have regarding the set of laws thar regulate the clinical record, which generates reluctance on the part of dentists to use this record modality within their daily consultation. The aim of this article is to carry out a review of the literature, as well as the current laws that regulate the clinical record in Mexico, in order to clarify the feasibility of implementing it within the dental office

Las negligencias más comunes en la práctica odontológica / The most common negligence in dental practice

Para el adecuado ejercicio de la odontología, los procedimientos realizados deben ejecutarse apegándose en todo momento a las normas y principios éticos propios de la profesión. Cuando un odontólogo decide, por voluntad propia, ejercer la profesión sin apegarse a dichos principios, se considera que actúa con negligencia. La negligencia se caracteriza por ser un acto indebido, en el cual el profesional ejecuta por voluntad propia acciones injustificables capaces de producir daños en la salud de los pacientes o en el pronóstico de un tratamiento. Los actos negligentes, además de atentar contra la integridad del paciente, ponen en riesgo a los profesionales de la salud que los cometen de sufrir consecuencias legales derivadas de dichos actos. El objetivo del presente artículo consiste en definir el concepto de negligencia, describir las formas más comunes en las que ésta se comete durante la consulta odontológica así como sus posibles consecuencias legales, ilustrándolas a su vez con la breve presentación de algunos casos (AU)

For the proper practice of dentistry, the procedures performed must be carried out adhering at all times to the standards and ethical principles of the profession. When a dentist voluntarily decides to practice the profession without adhering to these principles, he is considered to be acting negligently. Negligence is characterized as an improper act, in which the professional voluntarily executes unjustifiable actions capable of causing damage to the health of patients or the prognosis of a treatment. Negligent acts, in addition to threatening the integrity of the patient, put health professionals at risk who commit legal consequences derived from these acts. The aim of this article is to define the concept of negligence, to describe the most common ways in which it is committed during the dental practice as well as its legal consequences, illustrating them in turn with a brief presentation of some cases (AU)

Knowledge and practices of recording and maintaining patients 'dental records among private dental practitioners of Delhi, India

Proper recording and keeping dental records are an important part of any dental practice. It helps in improving patient care, has medico-legal importance and play significant role in human identification during mass disasters or criminal offences. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practices of recording and maintaining patients 'records among private dental practitioners of Delhi, India. Methods: Data for this cross-sectional study was collected from 160 dentists of Delhi using a self-administered questionnaire. The face and content validity as well as reliability of questionnaire was tested before the final data collection. A single trained examiner collected all the necessary information via personal visits or google forms. Chi-square test was applied to check the statistically significant difference between the dichotomous independent variables with respect to study participants' responses to the questionnaire. Results: The mean age of the study participants was 34.5 (SD 7.2) years.Digital method of recording patient's data and x-ray storage was more prevalent than manual method among the study participants. Slightly more than 40% of the dentists were keeping patient's records safe for a period of 6 to 10 years. Younger dentists with lesser years of practice were more explicit in recording and correcting patient records. Conclusion: Results of this study shows that private dental practitioners of Delhi are aware of medico-legal importance of dental records. Most of them were recording important findings and history of their patients. Dentists must be educated in two aspects namely correct method of recording and the ideal duration of storing their patients' dental records

Consideraciones legales sobre las notas de evolución en odontología / Legal considerations on medical charts in dentistry

El expediente clínico es considerado un documento de importancia médica y legal en donde se integran los datos necesarios para registrar el diagnóstico y los tratamientos realizados en cada paciente. Uno de los elementos más importantes dentro del expediente clínico son las notas de evolución, documentos con los que el odontólogo informa sobre el estado general del paciente y los tratamientos realizados cita tras cita. Existen legislaciones específicas en México que orientan al estomatólogo sobre los componentes mínimos necesarios que una nota de evolución debe tener; sin embargo, una de las omisiones más comunes de los odontólogos es que, por desconocimiento, no se dé la debida importancia a la elaboración de una adecuada nota de evolución, aumentando el riesgo de problemas legales. El objetivo del presente artículo es analizar la importancia de las notas de evolución dentro del expediente clínico, destacando su importancia clínica y legal (AU)

The clinical file is considered a document of medical and legal importance where the data necessary to record the diagnosis and the treatments performed on each patient are integrated. One of the most important elements within the clinical records are the medical charts, documents through which de dentist reports on the general condition of the patient and the treatments performed appointment after appointment. There are specific laws in Mexico that guide the stomatologist on the minimum necessary components that a medical chart must have, however, one of the most common omissions of dentist is that, due to ignorance, due importance is not given to the preparation of an adequate medical chart, increasing the risk of legal problems. The aim of this article is to analyze the importance of the evolution charts within the clinical records, highlighting their clinical and legal importance (AU)

Aspectos legales del consentimiento informado en odontología / Legal aspects of informed consent in dentistry

El consentimiento informado forma parte de los elementos que constituyen el expediente clínico. Por su importancia informativa sobre posibles riesgos y complicaciones inherentes al tratamiento a realizar, su elaboración resulta de vital importancia. Existen numerosas legislaciones y normatividades que regulan este notable documento; sin embargo, resulta alarmante que muchos profesionistas omiten su realización o lo elaboran erróneamente, poniéndolos en riesgo de sufrir problemas legales. Además, es una realidad que el consentimiento informado es un documento mal entendido por la mayoría de los profesionistas, pudiendo incurrir en numerosos errores por desconocimiento. El objetivo del presente artículo es informar al cirujano dentista sobre los verdaderos alcances del consentimiento informado con fundamento en la legislación vigente en México (AU)

Informed consent is part of the elements that make up the clinical record. Due to its informative importance on possible risks and complications inherent to the treatment to be carried out, its preparation is of vital importance. There are numerous laws and regulations that regulate this remarkable document, however, it is alarming that many professionals omit its elaboration or wrongly elaborate it, putting them at risk of suffering legal problems. In addition, it is a reality that informed consent is a document misunderstood by most professionals, and may incur numerous errors due to ignorance. The aim of this article is to inform the dental surgeon about the true scope of informed consent based on current legislation in Mexico (AU)

Diabetes y enfermedad periodontal / Diabetes and periodontal disease

El objetivo de este trabajo fue establecer la relación entre el grado de enfermedad periodontal y el control metabólico de la glucemia en pacientes que padecen diabetes tipo 2. Es un estudio de tipo observacional, descriptivo, transversal. Se seleccionaron 42 pacientes con diagnóstico de diabetes mellitus tipo 2 de ambos sexos, entre 25 y 75. Se realizó odontograma y se evaluó el grado de enfermedad periodontal para determinar el grado de compensación metabólica de los pacientes se tomaron muestras de sangre venosa y se midieron los valores de hemoglobina glicosilada. Un 23,55% de los pacientes no presentaron enfermedad periodontal y el resto se dividió en leve, moderada y severa presentándose la enfermedad leve en primer orden. Los pacientes con mayor grado de enfermedad periodontal presentaron mayor número de piezas dentarias perdidas (p 0,0334). La enfermedad periodontal se distribuye de la misma manera en ambos grupos de control glucémico (p=0,1211). En el grupo estudiado, el grado de enfermedad periodontal es independiente del control glucémico de los pacientes (AU)

The objective of this work was to establish the relationship between the degree of periodontal disease and the metabolic control of glycemia in patients with type 2 diabetes. It is an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study. 42 patients with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus of both sexes, between 25 and 75, were selected. An odontogram was performed and the degree of periodontal disease was evaluated; venous blood samples were taken and glycosylated hemoglobin values were measured to determine the degree of metabolic compensation of the patients. 23.55% of the patients did not present periodontal disease and the rest were divided into mild, moderate, and severe, with mild disease presenting in the first order. The patients with a higher degree of periodontal disease had a higher number of missing teeth (p 0.0334). Periodontal disease is distributed in the same way in both glycemic control groups (p = 0.1211). In the group studied, the degree of periodontal disease is independent of the glycemic control of the patients (AU)

Assessment of Dental Caries and Intervention in the First Permanent Molars of Brazilian Children

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of caries stages and interventions on first permanent molars (FPM) in Brazilian children. Material and Methods: Data from FPM were extracted from dental records of children aged 5-14 years of age that attended the UERJ Pediatric Dentistry Clinic. Data include patient age, sex, biofilm index, presence of carious lesions in all stages, and the treatments. Data was analyzed using the SPSS® 20.0 program. Results: A total of 158 dental records were analyzed, 587 registers were related to the caries stage and 601 related to the interventions; mean age of 8.26 (±1.4 years) and 53.2% were girls. The prevalence of active/inactive white spot(AWS/IWS) varied from 14.3% to 21.6% in right upper and lower left FPM, respectively. Enamel/dentin lesions without pulp involvement were also more prevalent in the lower arch and ranged from 3.4% for the right upper to 11.5% for the lower right FPM. Cavities with pulp involvement or indicated extraction ranged from 0% to 1.4%. Treatment included dental sealants, varying from 17.1 to 24.0% (n=126) and restorations, varying from 1.3 to 11.8% (n=38). The lower right were the most affected teeth. Conclusion: First permanent molars presented a higher prevalence of dental caries in early stages and the most prevalent treatment was related to the initial carious process, fluor therapy and sealants.

Traumatic Dental Injuries Occurred in Primary Teeth and their Sequel Effects on the Developmental Permanent Successors: A Controlled Study

ABSTRACT Objective: To examine the types of traumatic dental injuries of the primary teeth (TDI-p) and the long-term sequelae on permanent dentition (LSP) comparing with a control group (CG). In addition, a questionnaire that measures parents' knowledge and awareness was used. Material and Methods: The trauma group (TG) consisted of permanent teeth following TDI-p exposed teeth, while the CG consisted of permanent teeth following unexposed teeth with TDI-p of the same patients. In total, 141 teeth were evaluated in 27 patients. Data concerning such as teeth, when TDI-p occurred, types of treatments and types of LSP were collected. Chi-square test was used for intergroup comparison for gender, type of trauma, LSP, age of trauma and parameters in the parental information questionnaire. Significance level was p<0.05. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in the analysis between TG and CG (p<0.001). The prevalence of LSP due to TDI-p was 29.6% and the prevalence of sequelae in CG was 7.4%. The most common LSP was enamel hypoplasia (14.8%). Parents were aware of the importance of TDI-p, and they had insufficient knowledge about its management. Conclusion: TDI-p can be considered a high-risk factor in the development of LSP. Also, the lack of knowledge in parents should be supported by software-based application systems to be developed.

Proposta de inquéritos administrativo e clínico para tomada de decisão no atendimento odontológico em tempos de pandemia de covid-19 / Importance of clinical and administrative survey to dental treatment making decision in times of COVID-19 pandemic

Profissionais da Odontologia estão constantemente expostos a vários microrganismos, incluindo o novo Coronavírus (SARS-CoV-2), que apresenta alto potencial de disseminação. Considerando que durante o atendimento odontológico são gerados aerossóis com a disseminação de gotículas de saliva (potencialmente contaminada pelo vírus), a contaminação dos profissionais e pacientes poderia ser aumentada mesmo tomando-se os cuidados de biossegurança necessários. Embora o risco de contaminação durante um atendimento odontológico ainda não tenha sido estimado, a padronização de condutas, previamente e durante o atendimento odontológico, é atitude necessária para minimizar a transmissão do SARS-CoV-2 entre profissionais e pacientes. O objetivo do presente trabalho é propor um modelo de inquérito administrativo e clínico, com fundamento clínico, ético e legal, para a tomada de decisão sobre atender (ou não) um paciente com necessidades odontológicas em tempos de pandemia de COVID-19. A identificação de pacientes sintomáticos utilizando instrumentos sistematizados para coleta de informações pode minimizar o risco de contaminação por profissionais ou pacientes e, além disso, estes instrumentos podem subsidiar o profissional contra alegações infundadas, por parte dos pacientes, em casos de não atendimento.

Avaliação do conhecimento dos cirurgiões-dentistas de alfenas-MG sobre a importância do prontuário odontológico na identificação humana / Assessment of prior knowledge of dentists in Alfenas-MG about the importance of dental records in human identification

O prontuário odontológico é um documento de suma importância para a prática odontológica, pois é através do mesmo que se obtém informações importantes do paciente, possibilitando conhece-lo como um todo. Além disso, é um aliado do profissional, atentando-se as necessidades administrativas, éticas e legais. Assim, através deste documento, desde que seja bem preenchido e arquivado, é possível auxiliar em casos de identificação humana. Assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo verificar o conhecimento dos cirurgiões-dentistas de Alfenas-MG, sobre a importância do prontuário odontológico nos casos de identificação humana. Utilizou-se um questionário pré-estabelecido com questões relacionadas ao tema, junto a 147 profissionais. Verificou-se que os cirurgiões-dentistas de Alfenas-MG apresentam um conhecimento satisfatório sobre a importância da elaboração e manutenção do prontuário, principalmente nos casos de identificação humana. Entretanto, ainda há falhas no seu processo de preenchimento, podendo resultar em problemas administrativos e judiciais. Observou-se que 14,96% dos profissionais já tiveram a documentação odontológica solicitada para auxiliar no processo de identificação humana e, nestes casos 90,90% relataram que estes documentos foram extremamente úteis para solucionar o caso. Observou-se que os profissionais com menos de 10 anos de formado dedicam-se maior tempo para elaboração de uma anamnese e a utilização de software odontológico, com diferença estatística (p<0,01). Assim, observa-se que o profissional sabe da importância e colaboração do prontuário odontológico nos casos de identificação humana, mas ainda existe falhas no seu preenchimento.

Análise da importância da documentação odontológica no processo de identificação humana no IML de São Luís, Maranhão / Analysis of the importance of dental records in the process of human identification in the IML of São Luís, Maranhão

Introdução: a Odontologia Legal é considerada um método primário de identificação humana. Consiste na comparação de informações da arcada dentária de um indivíduo em dois momentos distintos, geralmente ante e post-mortem. Por essa razão, necessita-se que as informações ante-mortem estejam bem expostas, atualizadas e conservadas na documentação odontológica. Objetivo: a partir dos laudos cadavéricos realizados pela equipe de odontolegistas em corpos não identificados, avaliar, de acordo com as normas éticas e legais odontológicas, as documentações enviadas ao Instituto Médico-Legal (IML) de São Luís ­ Maranhão, com vistas à identificação desses cadáveres, assim como a sua interferência no confronto entre os dados ante e post-mortem. Material e Métodos: análise dos laudos cadavéricos elaborados pelo IML-MA, bem como das documentações recebidas para posterior confronto de supostas vítimas, no período de 2014 a 2019. Resultados: os laudos revelam que em 76,3% (374) dos cadáveres constavam procedimentos odontológicos realizados em vida, porém apenas 6,4% (24) desses casos apresentavam seus respectivos registros. Discussão: é dever do cirurgião-dentista produzir e conservar uma documentação odontológica satisfatória para cada paciente. Além de servir como defesa do profissional em eventuais processos judiciais, é essencial para a identificação humana através da Odontologia Legal. Sua ausência resulta em maior custo e tempo para uma resposta aos familiares da vítima e ao Estado. Conclusão: o número de documentações clínicas encaminhadas ao IML é aquém do esperado (27), porém a adequada qualidade dessas documentações permitiu 72,4% (21) identificações positivas das vítimas, evidenciando a importância da Odontologia Legal na identificação humana.