Faculty of Dentistry (FKG) of Universitas Hasanuddin (Unhas) Held an International Webinar entitled “The Role of Forensic Odontologist in Indonesia’s Natural Disaster” using zoom meeting application at 14.00 WITA on Wednesday (7/7).
The event presented several experts, including Rizky Merdieto Boedi, drg., MSc.FO (Research Post Graduate School of Dentistry, University of Dundee Departement of Dentistry, Universitas Diponegoro, Indonesia), dan Peter Sahelangi, drg., Sp.OF (K), DFM Senior Supt (Ret), (Departement of Forensic and Medicolegal, Faculty of Medicine & Faculty Dentistry, Universitas Hasanuddin, Indonesia).
Dean of Faculty of Dentistry, drg. Muhammad Ruslin, M.Kes., Ph.D., Sp.BM(K) officially opened the event. In his opening remarks, he expressed his appreciation to the experts who attended the webinar to share their knowledge. Furthermore, The experts’ knowledge and experience in Forensic Odontology can deepen students’ understanding of the dentist’s role in the identification process of disaster victims.
“The application of Dentistry in supporting the identification process of mass disaster fatalities is indispensable. The dental identification of victims is highly required to determine the victims’ identity. This webinar is expected to upgrade knowledge related to such topic,” explained drg. Ruslin.
Aftre the opening, the agenda moved to a presentation by Rizky Merdieto Boedi, drg., MSc.FO, discussing “Dental Profiling in Palu Tsunami Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Operation.”
drg. Rizki described the earthquake that hit Sulawesi Tengah in 2018, which triggered the tsunami, liquefaction, and landslides resulting in many casualties. With tropical climate conditions combined with exposure to seawater, the human body enters a state of decay quickly, making visual identification impossible. Therefore, a dental profiling procedure was performed. The operation team performed dental charting, and they took photographs and carried out age estimation.
“The task force made the dental charting and photographs following Interpol’s guiding standards. The method used in children is estimating the age of sub-adult teeth in which the clinical eruption of the gingiva and alveolar can help determine the approximate age of their teeth,” explained drg. Rizky
On the same occasion, Peter Sahelangi, drg., Sp.OF (K), DFM Senior Supt (Ret) presented the topic of “Aceh Tsunami DVI Humanitarian Operation: Religious & Cultural point of view.”
In his presentation, Peter explained that the identification of mass disasters victims requires a DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) procedure because it has become an essential protocol and is carried out in almost every incident that causes casualties.
The DVI process uses a couple of methods and techniques. Interpol has decided the Primary Identifier (PI) including fingerprint, Odontology, and DNA, while Secondary Identifier (SI) consists of accessories and photographs.
The Odontology method in victim identification is applied to analyze the postmortem data (investigation data) and the antemortem data (dental record database from government or health institution).
The webinar guided by drg. Fadhlil Ulum A. Rahman, Sp.RKG ended at 18.00 WITA.
Kumara Tungga Dewa, S.S.
Editor : Ishaq Rahman, AMIPR
