| Abstract [eng] |
Relevance and aim of the work. Forensic dentistry is a topic of interest in foreign countries. In Sweden there are around 250 individual victim dental identification cases each year that are made by dentists. The field of forensic dentistry is not developed in Lithuania, although there are not only individual victims to identify, but the country is at risk of mass catastrophes: military conflicts, natural and other disasters. There is very little scientific literature of the subject of Lithuanian forensic dentistry. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a need to develop the field of forensic dentistry among Lithuanian professionals. Objectives. To assess the knowledge, experience and motivation to improve the knowledge in the field of forensic dentistry of dentists, forensic experts and police investigators and to determine the necessity for forensic dentistry in Lithuania based on the estimates obtained. Methods. The study involved anonymous survey for dentists, forensic experts and police investigators. A questionnaire was administered to the respondents on “Google forms” platform. Questions on knowledge, experience and motivation was evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 30.0.0.0 and Microsoft Excel Version 2502 software. Chi-square, One-Way ANOVA and independent samples T-tests were used. The level of statistical significance was set at p<0,05. Results. The study included 139 respondents, of which 38,13% (N=53) were dentists, 23,74% (N=33) were forensic experts and 38,13% (N=53) were police investigators. Statistically significant differences were found between the groups when comparing knowledge, experience and motivation (p<0,05). Dentists had more knowledge than police investigators (p<0,05). Forensic experts had more knowledge than dentists (p<0,05) and police investigators (p<0,05). Forensic experts were more experienced than dentists (p<0,05) and police investigators (p<0,05). Police investigators were more experienced than dentists (p<0,05). Dentists and forensic experts were more motivated to improve their knowledge than police investigators (p<0,05). Conclusions. There is a great necessity to develop the field of forensic dentistry in Lithuania, as the respondents’ knowledge and experience were insufficient. Dentists and forensic experts are motivated to improve their knowledge. The study highlighted a lack of motivation to increase the knowledge of police investigators. Keywords. Forensic dentistry in Lithuania, dental identification, interdisciplinary study, questionnaire on forensic dentistry. |
