The most widely recognized arena of forensic dentistry is that of dental identification. When a deceased victim's remains are recovered, the gruesome task of establishing the identity of the remains is undertaken. Often times, a visual identification can be done with a high degree of accuracy; however, there are times when a scientific identification must be done. The legal system of the United States recognizes the following classes of human identification:
- Visual (often unreliable)
- Fingerprint
- Dental
- Medical
- Anthropological
- DNA
When a victim is visually un-identifiable, the most common types of identification are dental and fingerprint. Both of these methods require an antemortem (before death) record of the victim, either dental or fingerprint or both, to which a comparison is done.
A dental identification is nothing more than a point by point and tooth by tooth comparison of the human remains with the dental record of the suspected victim. The evaluation identifies those unique characteristics of the dentition of the victim with the dental chart and dental radiographs (x-rays) of the dental record being examined. All points of comparison must match exactly, or, if there is a discrepancy, the difference must be explainable. An example of an explainable discrepancy would include a virgin tooth in the dental record and that same tooth having a filling when the victim's teeth are examined. Another explainable discrepancy would be a tooth that was missing and the alveolar bone healed where the tooth used to be when compared to the presence of that same tooth in the antemortem dental x-rays. Any unexplainable discrepancy would prevent an identification of the victim remains with the dental record in question.
The positive identification of the human remains has some significant legal issues. Death certificates cannot be issued without a positive identification, preventing the settlement of life insurance policies or the execution of wills. Additionally, non-accidental deaths cannot be prosecuted without the positive identification of the remains. However, the most significant aspect of the positive identification of the remains is that of the survivors - both family and friends. There can be no emotional closure for both of these groups until a positive identification of the victim remains has been established. In our society, there is a great value placed on the identification of human remains.
Dental identifications can be used for non-deceased persons as well. Amnesiacs and the correct identity of identical twins in legal proceedings are examples of the usefulness of dental identification in living persons.
In mass disasters, dental identifications become the single most important means of the identification of the victims of the disaster. Special training and education are necessary to successfully handle the tremendous responsibility of managing the identification of the multiple victims of a mass disaster. Pre-planning and training through mock disasters provide those dentists with the interest to participate in a real disasters with the hands on training necessary. (Dr. Wright chairs the Ohio Dental Association Forensic Dental Team and has worked with the core team to develop an organized and trained Mass Disaster Identification Team.)
To view the Case Examples, click on the links below.
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