Dental Odontology

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Dental Odontology
More than three million cases of child abuse are reported every year and only seven hundred thousand is found to be examples of abuse. Abuse can include physical, mental, sexual, or emotional abuse (“Child Abuse”). Child abuse can be hard to identify because most victims are often not able to help themselves. It is not something seen everyday by the average person, which is why there is specific people who can catch it at the source. For example, dentists have been trained to identify signs of abuse on a patient and report it. Forensic Odontology is important in discovering cases of child abuse because forensic odontologists are trained to find signs and symptoms of different types of abuse and report the findings to get the …show more content…
A report must be made when the reporter suspects or has reason to suspect that a child has been abused or neglected, failure to report is classified as a misdemeanor in approximately thirty five States. Child Protective Services (CPS) is who the dentist would report to so they can then further the investigation. “If the report does meet the statutory criteria for child maltreatment, CPS must investigate to determine if the abuse or neglect can be substantiated.” (Avon). The dentist is usually the mandated reporter for maltreatment and abuse, most of the time because the dental record is legally owned by the dentist and they run the office. Dentists are to be aware of abnormal oral injuries because they can be used as a witness in court to testify against the abuser if asked by law enforcement or CPS (Karageorge, …show more content…
Kids go through many phases in their childhood years and that is normal, but some behaviors can be a sign to health care providers that a child may be experiencing abuse or neglect. Some signs that stand out the most to doctors and dentists are new fears the child has or emotional behavior, if a child looks unhappy and may be self harming, the child may gain or lose a large amount of weight, or may behave inappropriately (“Spotting the Signs of Child Abuse”). If a dentist were to notice any of those signs then they would have to report it to
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