Role of dental pulp in identification of the deceased individual by establishing ABO blood grouping and Rhesus factor.

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The study was conducted to emphasize the sensitivity and specificity of dental pulp in identifying the ABO Blood group, Rhesus factor and also to emphasize the role of dental pulp in forensic odontology to identify the deceased individual. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 60 patients. The samples obtained from finger-prick method from those 60 patients were considered as control and the samples obtained from the pulp were considered as case. The blood grouping, Rhesus typing for capillary blood drawn by finger prick was done by slide-agglutination method and the blood grouping, Rhesus typing for extracted dental pulp was done by absorption-elution method. Results: Fifty seven teeth out of sixty showed positive results. Blood group elicited from capillary blood done by slide-agglutination method matched with that of the pulpal blood group elicited by absorption-elution method. Three showed negative results. Conclusion: As the teeth are the hardest, most stable biological material, resist adverse environmental conditions and the pulpal tissue inside the teeth is well protected, the blood group antigen from pulp remains stable for long. Thus, the high potential value of dental pulp tissue is highlighted in this study.