Forensic Facial Reconstruction: Review and Analysis of Scientific Research in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract. Forensic Facial Reconstruction (FFR) refers to any process that aims to recover the morphology of a face at the moment before death, from the observation of a skull. It's a recognition method that allows direct investigations for primary methods of human identification. The literature on this topic is very extensive, however, there are only few national studies, even in Forensic Dentistry. The present study aimed to review and to analyze the Brazilian research publications about FFR. On April 13, a search for references was carried on Bibliografia Brasileira de Odontologia (BBO) and Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) electronic full-text databases with the terms "forensic facial reconstruction", "forensic facial reconstitution" and "forensic facial approximation". A total of 10 national references was found, between 2000 and 2012: 2 articles, 3 dissertations and 5 theses. Most of the references belong to the field of dentistry and the topic that was most studied is facial soft tissue thickness of Brazilian subjects, totaling 30% of the publications. About 50% of the studies have been made since 2010, which shows that the national studies are recent. We conclude that the Brazilian literature on FFR has been growing, but there is still a lack of research. The preparation of theses and dissertations is valuable for the development of Forensic Sciences and Forensic Dentistry.

Soft Tissue Thickness Assessment for Forensic Facial Reconstruction Purposes - Evaluation of Brazilian Children's Data

“…In a literature review conducted in 2013, Herrera, et al [3] tabulated data from 3 studies [1,6-7] on facial soft tissue thickness data from Brazilians adults, two of which were performed using needle punctures in corpses [1,7] and one, using measurements of facial soft tissue thicknesses on magnetic resonance imaging scans [6]. When Herrera's survey [3] was published, there were no other publications available containing tables of mean facial soft tissue thickness data on Brazilian children.…”

“…After the survey conducted by Herrera, et al [3] came out, other contributions were made to forensic facial reconstruction, particularly tables of facial thicknesses of the soft tissue of Brazilians. In the same year of 2013, Beaini [8] added consistent results by supplying a new table with data on Brazilian adults, and proposed that standardized measurements of soft tissue thicknesses be performed using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans.…”

“…Our initial search for documents related to the forensic facial reconstruction of Brazilians was carried out in the electronic databases of the Brazilian Bibliography of Dentistry (BBO) and the Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), following the same procedure adopted by Herrera et al [3]. The terms searched were "forensic facial approximation," "forensic facial reconstruction", "facial reconstruction" and "forensic facial reconstitution."…”

“…This process allows a facial image to be obtained and disclosed, thus helping relatives and close friends recognize the individual in question [2]. Once recognition is made possible by offering an image of the reconstituted face, the primary methods of human identification [3] can then be performed using the antemortem data of the individual to be identified, made available by the police authorities and official institutions.…”