Forensic dentistry - Present and future

Evolved from the Latin word "Forensis", meaning forum or the court of law, forensic science branches out into a vital subfield, forensic dentistry, which is dedicated to the application of science for the preservation and presentation of dental evidence in the interest of justice. Forensic dentistry is transitioning from manual morphology to high-precision digital diagnostics. While rooted in the thermal resilience of dental tissues, the field now leverages convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for automated age estimation and DNA methylation for epigenetic profiling. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the shift toward the Internet of Dental Things (IoDT) and 3D digital twinning via CBCT for immutable identification. By synthesizing 2024-2026 technological advancements, we provide a roadmap for enhancing the objectivity and legal admissibility of dental evidence. These molecular and AI-driven tools are critical for modernizing human identification in mass disaster and criminal investigations, offering superior speed and accuracy over traditional comparative methods. Thus, we report the pivotal shift from manual dental morphology to AI-driven digital diagnostics.