What is ISO 20888 about?
ISO 20888 discusses vocabulary and designation systems for forensic oro-dental data on dentistry. ISO 20888 defines the terms used to describe the distinctive characteristics of an individual’s mouth by dentists and forensic dental experts. These terms are organized by concepts based on a forensic approach to the characteristics of a mouth. Many concepts are specific to the identification domain that are not defined elsewhere in ISO dentistry vocabularies.
The hierarchical structure of this document is designed to describe attributes of a tooth, the mouth, and a prosthesis/orthosis with increasing levels of discriminative characteristics. The hierarchical structure of this document is designed to describe the possibility to connect any level of description of an attribute with the most comprehensive concept.
ISO 20888 is intended to be used for data exchange between antemortem and post-mortem files, and remove ambiguity on the terms used to describe an individual’s mouth.
ISO 20888 is intended to be used in conjunction with ISO 1942 and ISO 3950.
Who is ISO 20888 for?
ISO 20888 on the vocabulary and designation system for forensic oro-dental data for Dentistry is useful for:
- Antemortam dental data libraries and archives
- The disaster victim identification (DVI) community
- Forensic odontologists
- Dentists
Why should you use ISO 20888?
A significant volume of information is gathered during dental evaluation and treatment. Forensic odontologists are charged with the task of identifying individuals, and need comprehensive information to prove or disprove identification.
ISO 20888 guidelines intend to streamline the vocabulary and designation system for forensic oro-dental data so that this standardized vocabulary can translate to accurate electronic records.
The establishment of a positive identification of an unidentified individual by the comparative dental analysis of a forensic odontologist requires submission of supporting documentation from the dental professionals who treated the patient.
This information is then submitted to the appropriate authority and referred to as antemortem dental data. Since these records are submitted on paper and by radiographic film, information may be ambiguous. The goal of ISO 20888 is to create a standardized electronic format for the transfer of this data.
