Barr Body in Pulp Tissue- A Key Aid in Gender Determination

Abstract

The identification of a person is required when the body is disfigured or mutilated beyond recognition as a result of barbaric crimes, workplace and motor vehicle accidents, aviation and navy disasters, wars, fire, flood, manmade and natural mass disasters and casualties, and in circumstances where the body is in an unrecognizable, decomposed state.Forensic odontology is the branch of dentistry which aids in identifying human remains. Teeth are one of the most robust structures of the human body and offer high impedance to the immediate and cumulative effects of adverse environmental conditions.Since the pulp is enclosed in hard tissue structures, it becomes a reliable means for determination of sex. Forensic science has long been dependent on fingerprints or some identification mark on the body of a deceased individual. But in the absence of such evidence dental indicators assist successfully in the identification process. Sex determination becomes the first priority in the process of identification of a person. This article reviews upon the gender determination using barr body extracted from pulpal tissue..