Question 1 : Forensic Odontology

1.

Forensic Odontology is the application of dental science to the administration of the law. It provides an important community service in both the civil and criminal legal jurisdictions.

The scope of forensic odontology is wide and includes the identification of victims of transport accidents, gunshot, and incineration in vehicles and house fires. It is based upon the recognition of unique features present in each person's dental structures. It also includes the examination of bitemarks inflicted by humans and animals in a variety of circumstances. Particularly significant are the bitemarks frequently produced upon victims of child abuse. Assessment of age is another important role of forensic odontology, applicable to both deceased and living persons.

It relies on the detailed knowledge of the teeth and jaws possessed by a dentist. This skill incorporates an education in dental anatomy, radiographs and their interpretation, pathology, dental materials, developmental anomalies and a thorough familiarity with the many methods of charting and abbreviations in dental treatment progress notes.  

This area of forensic identification plays a major role in man-made or natural disaster, which result in multiple fatalities that are not identifiable through conventional methods, i.e., fingerprints. The same principles apply to individual fatality identification. In situations where friction ridge skin has been destroyed, the recovery of identifiable dental structures is still possible. It becomes most apparent in aircraft crashes and industrial explosions where high G forces and fire produce fragmentation and partial incineration. The teeth and dental restorations are the strongest elements in the human body and survive the destructive influences of fire and exposure to the elements.

Individualization from dental radiographs is based upon several factors, the most important being the ability to locate a source of known dental or medical radiographs, which clearly document unique points of identification. As has been previously stated, it is also dependent upon the survivability of dental structure for post mortem radiography. Further, it is also dependent upon deriving a presumptive identification of the fatality from other investigative means; i.e., flight manifests, personal effects, or other circumstantial evidence. Unlike a central repository for automated fingerprint analysis, dental records must be derived individually.

Once obtained, even a single dental radiograph can yield multiple points of comparison. When one considers that an individual has the potential for having thirty-two teeth, each tooth having a top and four sides and each of these five surfaces being virgin or restored with one or more of several types of dental materials, the probability of establishing an identification is extremely high. When factors such as an extraction pattern, the presence of anatomic anomalies or pathology is added, the probability of the dental characteristics becoming unique can be established.