Sion Hospital to get Maharashtra first dental forensic lab soon

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, locally known as Sion Hospital, will soon have Maharashtra’s first forensic odontology laboratory. Forensic odontology

Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, locally known as Sion Hospital, will soon have Maharashtra’s first forensic odontology laboratory. Forensic odontology is the application of dental science to identify victims or offenders from evidence gathered during a criminal investigation and is particularly helpful in identifying badly-damaged bodies.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has allotted a room on the third floor of the forensic department of Sion Hospital for the laboratory. The laboratory is expected to be operative in a month.

“We have got the approval from the BMC for the construction of the forensic odontology laboratory at our hospital,” said Dr Rajesh Dere, head of the department of forensic science, Sion Hospital. “This would be the first such state-of-art laboratory dedicated only for forensic odontology in the state.”

Equipment worth ₹10 lakh has already been procured. This includes impression trays, American Board of Forensic Odontology (ABFO) scales, extraction forceps, and dental stones among other things.

The analysis will be done by two forensic odontologists – Dr Ankita Vora and Dr Maarisha Vats – who studied forensic odontology at Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, the only institution in India to offer postgraduate studies in the subject. The two doctors joined Sion Hospital in 2018.

“All the essential equipment has already been procured, but we are also in the process to get more advanced equipment like portable x-ray machine,” said Dr Vora.

At present, evidence from crime scenes and investigations are sent to forensic odontologist Dr Hemlata Pandey at KEM Hospital for analysis.

There is no specialised laboratory for forensic odontology in the state.