Prevalence of traumatic orofacial and dental injury in unidentified bodies—Data from a forensic medicine institute in Brazil

Abstract

Background/Aim Orofacial trauma and traumatic dental injuries (TDI) are serious public health problems due to their high prevalence, severe morbidity, high costs of treatment, and long‐term sequelae. However, the extent of the problem may be underestimated since trauma analysis, from a forensic odontology perspective, is not widely represented in the scientific literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence of traumatic orofacial injuries (TOI) and TDI in unidentified bodies and their association with the cause of death. Materials and methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of dental and autopsy reports of unidentified bodies admitted to the Institute of Forensic Medicine of Belo Horizonte (IFM‐BH), Brazil, between 2015 and 2016. The final sample was made up of 536 bodies. Demographic data, the location where the body was found, cause of death, and the presence and type of orofacial trauma were collected. Results The mean of the estimated age of the bodies was 38 years and the median was 35 years. Most of the bodies were from males (87.5%) and were found downtown in the city of Belo Horizonte (60.4%). Violence was the most common cause of death (64%), generally by gunshot (48.7%). Bodies with an estimated age ≤35 years were eight times more likely to have died from violent causes. TOI was registered in 50.9% of the reports. TDI was observed in 10.8% of the bodies. Victims of violent death were seven times more likely to present TOI. Such association was not observed when the presence of TDI was considered. Conclusions There is a positive association between TOI and violent death in unidentified bodies.

Head and face injuries in Brazilian homicide victims – A retrospective study

“…In the present study, male gender was predominant among homicide victims. This finding is in agreement with data from the World Health Organization, for the six regions of the world,[ 2 ] and from previous studies carried out by researchers in Brazil,[ 8 ] in India,[ 18 ] and in Taiwan. [ 14 ] A possible explanation for this result would be the greater exposure of male victims to outdoor activities, this way becoming more exposed to stress, frustrations, and violence.…”

“…The means used in the vast majority of cases were firearm and this predominance is in agreement with a previous study. [ 8 ] In 2017, over half of homicides were carried out with weapons worldwide, with the region of Americas accounting for three-quarters of homicides with firearms. [ 3 ] In Brazil, from 1996 to 2018, of the total death notifications registered by assaults in the mortality information system (SIM) ( n = 1,168,880), 69.7% of Brazilians were killed by firearms, with an increase of almost 80.0% in the period.…”

“…Studies carried out in hospital and forensic medical services in Brazil have demonstrated that violence has been one of the main etiological factors of injuries in the head and face region,[ 8 9 10 ] as well as in studies carried out in New Zealand,[ 11 ] in Burkina Faso,[ 12 ] the United States of America,[ 13 ] and Taiwan. [ 14 ] Injuries in this region aim to disqualify the victim's identity, act as a factor of intimidation, and in cases of violence with a firearm, there is an indisputable attempt to cause the death of victims due to the lethality and the power of destruction of face injuries.…”

Dental injuries at the Xi’an, China Stomatological Hospital: A Retrospective Study

“…Epidemiological studies suggest that although the oral region only comprises 1% of the total body area, TDI comprise 5% of all bodily injuries, and even higher when it comes to preschool children (17%) 1,2 . In recent reports, using various selected samples, age‐groups and different classifications of TDI, the prevalence of TDI varies from 4.6% to 56.1% worldwide 3−10 …”

Stab Wound on Chest

“…Traumatology is a branch of medicine that studies trauma or injuries and their association with various types of violence (forced weapons) with abnormalities in the body due to tissue discontinuities that leaves a trail (Villalobos et al, 2020).…”