PROBLEMS OF IMPLEMENTING DENTAL IDENTIFICATION METHODS OF MILITARY PERSONNEL IN UKRAINE: ANALYSIS OF THE NATO STANDARD STANAG 2464 AMEDP-3.1. “MILITARY FORENSIC DENTAL IDENTIFICATION”

Abstract

Introduction. Taking into account actual National Security Strategy of Ukraine, which provides the basis for the development of a special partnership between Ukraine and NATO, it is appropriate to conduct an analysis of the compliance of the dental care system components provided for military personnel in Ukraine with the standards of the North Atlantic Alliance. STANAG 2464 AMedP-3.1 needs more detailed processing, taking into account the specific of realizing process of forensic dental identification and the problems of implementing above-mentioned standard into forensic medical practice in its current version. Objective. To analyze the NATO standard STANAG 2464 AMedP-3.1 «Military Forensic Dental Identification», identify the problems of its implementation in the practice of forensic medical examination in Ukraine in its original edition and propose approaches to its optimization. Methods. The analysis of the NATO standard STANAG 2464 AMedP-3.1 «Military Forensic Dental Identification» was based on the original text. Information extracted from selected publications, regulatory and legislative acts, and in the course of a survey provided among specialists, was used for comparison with the data given in the original edition of the NATO Standard AMedP-3.1 «Military Forensic Dental Identification» to assess the possibilities of its implementation in the practice of domestic forensic medicine examinations. Results. The analysis of NATO Standard AMedP-3.1 «Military Forensic Dental Identification» made it possible to single out the following problems that may arise during its implementation in forensic dental practice in the original edition: non-correspondence of standardized DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) protocols and algorithms developed by Interpol to the conditions and features of providing dental care to the population of Ukraine, which will potentially provoke the development of typical and atypical identification unconformities; impossibility of carrying out the process of comparative identification based on the data of medical records of dental patients due to incorrect filling, loss or absence of them as sources of objective information; the absence of Plass Data® software analogue for registering and comparing the data of the completed INTERPOL AM 600 and INTERPOL PM 600 forms with the appropriate interface in the Ukrainian language and absence of proper remote technical support related to the operation of the server and the operation of the formed database. Conclusions. Correct implementation of the requirements listed within the NATO standard regarding the identification of military personnel based on dental status’ data requires modification of the current forms of medical dental records for the possibility of extracting from them all the necessary information for the correct filling of DVI Interpol forms, as well as there is a need for proper control of the reliability regarding medical dental records’ information and compliance of such with the actual condition and changes of the dental status of the person. Despite the fact that the NATO standard AMedP-3.1 «Military Forensic Dental Identification» provides argumentation for the use of evidences obtained during radiological examinations of the dentoalveolar region, in the structure of the main provisions of the above-mentioned document there is no description of specific algorithms and protocols regarding radiological images processing in accordance with the requirements of the proceedings followed during forensic medical examination, and there is no detailed description of approaches regarding the correct interpretation of significance levels of various dental identifiers verified on X-rays.