Odontology

Primary Role of the Forensic Odontologist

The identification of missing and unknown persons is a central issue among the diverse medicolegal issues that forensic odontologists address. It involves participation in autopsy examinations at the request of law enforcement, coroners, or medical examiners at the local or state level. The postmortem dental examination of human remains begins with charting dental and cranial features, creating radiographic documentation of these features, and writing a forensic report on the findings. A second step is the application of these findings to investigations by law enforcement to identify the missing or unknown person. The physical comparison of autopsy results with antemortem dental radiographs and records completes the process, allowing the dentist to render an opinion of a positive identification, a possible identification, no identification, or inconclusive results.

Situations that may make dental identifications necessary on a large scale include mass disasters, transportation accidents, acts of war or aggression, and terrorism. Criminal and death investigations may also utilize the services of a forensic odontologist. These include industrial or domestic explosions where fragmentation makes identification a challenge, and accidental or suicidal drowning, where bloating, decomposition, and marine life activity make visual identification impossible. Discovered human remains can be recovered from construction sites, crime scenes, storage spaces, dump sites, and motor vehicle accidents. Additionally, linking missing persons reports with unidentified bodies permits closure for the families making the report, and it provides law enforcement with important identification information.

The Need for Positive Identification

The effects of positively identifying individuals have considerable humanitarian value for families and society. Making a positive identification of an unidentified body is crucial to many legal matters. It permits the issuance of a death certificate, which is necessary for the settlement of estate, probate, and insurance policies. Additionally, resolution of child custody and property issues and remarriage of the surviving spouse [Page 1102]are made possible. of equal importance is the release of the identified remains to the family for burial and final disposition. Without positive identification, a family can spend a lifetime wondering if their loved one was in fact a victim. In a death investigation where there is evidence indicating that death occurred at the hands of another, a positive identification allows law enforcement to proceed with investigation and potential prosecution.

How Identification is Made

The adult human dentition usually consists of sixteen teeth in the upper (maxillary) and sixteen teeth in the lower (mandibular) jaw. Occasionally, there are extra (supernumerary) teeth present that may be useful in identifying an unknown person. There are four incisors, two cuspids (canine teeth), four premolars (bicus-pids), and six molars in each jaw. Each adult jaw contains four anterior incisors followed by one cuspid and two premolars on each side. The last three teeth in the posterior are the molars. Any of these teeth may be present in the mouth, present in the jaw but unerupted in the oral cavity, or congenitally absent. Teeth may be missing due to professional extraction or traumatically avulsed due to mishap or violence. A recently removed tooth leaves an extraction site in the jawbone, which may be in various stages of healing. That process can be used to estimate the time since tooth loss.

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