Knowledge and Awareness about Forensic Entomology in India among Dental Students
Author(s): Taanya Imtiaz and Abirami Arthanari*
Abstract
Introduction: Forensic science deals with various branches, which involve the identification of the dead and also reveals the suspect of the crime. Thus a branch of forensic science is forensic entomology, which is a study that deals with insects and arthropods in a criminal investigation. Insects are used to estimate PMI-post-mortem interval because of the reproductive stage taking place in the dead and decayed corpse. Thus the aim of this study is to investigate the awareness and knowledge about forensic entomology among dental students. Materials and methods: Detailed questionnaire was created with questions about forensic entomology and was circulated to 100 dental undergraduate students through Google forms. The collected data was analysed using chi-square analysis in SPSS software. Results: 83.3% of the dental students are aware about forensic entomology and 73.3% of the dental students are aware that it's a study of the insects which is helpful in forensic investigations to determine the PMI. Are aware that PMI helps to determine and estimate the time of the deceased. 63.3% of them are aware that forensic entomology is linked with forensic odontology. Conclusion: Thus the present study concludes that the awareness and knowledge about forensic entomology among dental students is above average, and the various aspects of forensic entomology are well known by the second year students than the first year students.