RESUMO Introdução Lesões na região facial podem alterar a qualidade de vida de um indivíduo consideravelmente. Para mensurar esse prejuízo, é necessária a valoração do dano corporal. Objetivo Analisar as características de jurisprudências que envolveram a valoração do dano ocasionado por trauma facial, destacando as tendências observadas. Métodos Foram analisados dados secundários, os quais são de domínio público, de jurisprudências do Tribunal de Justiça do Rio Grande do Sul no período de 2008 a 2016. A amostra foi constituída por 43 acórdãos de processos relacionados a acidentes de trânsito, quedas ou agressões que atingiram a face. Resultados Verificou-se que 86% dos autores e dos réus das jurisprudências são do sexo masculino. Em 62,7% dos processos a agressão física foi a forma de trauma mais frequente e a consequência do dano foi fratura dentária com 53,49%. Os valores para danos morais variaram entre 1.500,00 e 20.340,00 reais, para dano estético de 2.000,00 e 20.000,00. Conclusão A análise das jurisprudências nos permite verificar a tendência de necessidade e valorização do perito cirurgião-dentista para quantificação de danos envolvendo o complexo bucomaxilofacial.

ABSTRACT Introduction Facial injuries may change, considerably, people’s quality of life. To measure the damage, the assessment of the bodily harm is required. Objective To analyze jurisprudential characteristics involving the valuation of the damage related to facial trauma, highlighting trends Methods It was analyzed secondary data, which are public domain, of the precedents of the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul State from 2008 to 2016. The sample consisted of 43 lawsuits in cases related to traffic accidents, falls or physicalaggression that affected the face. Results It was found that 86% of authors and defendants of the lawsuits analyzed are male. In 62.7% of cases physical aggression was the form of trauma that caused more injuries and the most common damage was dental fractures with 53.49%. The monetary restitution for moral damages ranged from R$1,500.00 to R$20,340.00, and for aesthetic damage ranged from R$2,000.00 to R$20,000.00. Conclusion The analyzed jurisprudence involving facial trauma allows us to verifythe trend of need and value of the dentist expert to quantify damage involving the maxillofacial complex.

A Odontologia Legal, ramo das Ciências Forenses, tem importante atuação nas perícias de identificação humana post-mortem, sobretudo na ocorrência de cadáveres em avançado estado de putrefação, carbonizados e esqueletizados. O processo odontológico de identificação humana é realizado por meio de técnica comparativa, o qual é simples, de baixo custo e confiável, que busca relacionar as informações e características odontológicas, registradas em prontuário clínico, antes da morte de um indivíduo, com as particularidades odontológicas encontradas no exame pericial após a morte. Neste contexto, o presente trabalho teve como objetivo demonstrar a importância da documentação odontológica e a efetividade da odontologia legal no processo de identificação humana, por meio de um relato de caso do Instituto Médico Legal de São Luís, Maranhão, Brasil. Pode-se concluir que o prontuário odontológico, elaborado pelo cirurgião-dentista na clínica diária, quando bem estruturado, completo e arquivado corretamente, armazena informações pessoais importantes, sendo ferramenta fundamental no processo de identificação humana.

Forensic dentistry, a branch of the forensic sciences, plays an important role within postmortem human identification, especially in cases of corpses that are charred, skeletonized or in an advanced state of decomposition. Identification of human remains via dental knowledge is done using a comparative technique, which is simple, inexpensive and reliable, the aim of which is to compare dental records and information recorded by dentists in clinical appointments made before an individual's death, with postmortem dental records obtained via forensic examination. In this context, the present study aims to demonstrate the importance of dental records and the effectiveness of forensic dentistry in human identification, illustrated by the report of a case that was conducted at the São Luis Coroner's Office in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. It may be concluded that dental records maintained by a dentist, when complete, properly structured and correctly archived, retain important personal information and are fundamental tools in the process of human identification.

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and the type of claim denials (administrative, clinical or both) made by a large dental insurance plan. This was a cross-sectional, observational study, which retrospectively collected data from the claims and denial reports of a dental insurance company. The sample consisted of the payment claims submitted by network dentists, based on their procedure reports, reviewed in the third trimester of 2012. The denials were classified and grouped into ‘administrative’, ‘clinical’ or ‘both’. The data were tabulated and submitted to uni- and bivariate analyses. The confidence intervals were 95% and the level of significance was set at 5%. The overall frequency of denials was 8.2% of the total number of procedures performed. The frequency of administrative denials was 72.88%, whereas that of technical denials was 25.95% and that of both, 1.17% (p < 0.05). It was concluded that the overall prevalence of denials in the studied sample was low. Administrative denials were the most prevalent. This type of denial could be reduced if all dental insurance providers had unified clinical and administrative protocols, and if dentists submitted all of the required documentation in accordance with these protocols.