Forensic dental identification 181
led to the development of hardware and software that can create 3D models
following the scanning of objects. The objects can be a tooth, several teeth,
or a complete dental model. A scanner developed by 3M, the Lava™ Chairside
Oral Scanner, and other intraoral image capture systems of this type are used
to create accurate 3D models to be used for the indirect fabrication of fixed
dental prosthetics. It is not difficult to envision that these same components
or their derivatives could be utilized to make 3D scans of postmortem cases
to compare to archived 3D antemortem scans, leading to positive dental iden-
tifications. This same technology may become useful in bitemark analysis
(see Chapter 14).
These and other advances in dental and forensic technologies coupled
with optimal clinical practices that stress meticulous record keeping, includ-
ing recording the specific dental materials used in patient care, will become
important tools for forensic dentists, facilitating identifications and the
return of loved ones to their families.
9.8 Ten Tips and Cautions for Dental Identification
- You cannot unfill a tooth. As obvious as this may seem, if, in a post-
mortem case, a tooth is unrestored, all antemortem records show-
ing a restoration in that same tooth can be eliminated. A restoration
may have been placed after the most recent antemortem record, but
not the opposite—teeth do not heal. Consideration must be given to
errors in antemortem charting.
- Extracted teeth cannot grow back. If an antemortem radiograph
demonstrates that a tooth is missing and that tooth is present in a
postmortem radiograph, the forensic odontologist can exclude that
postmortem record.
- A body without an antemortem dental record cannot be identified by
dental means. As in all methods of identification, postmortem informa-
tion must be compared to a known individual’s antemortem informa-
tion. Not all unidentified bodies will ultimately be identified.
- Antemortem records without a body = no ID. Hundreds of dental
records exist in missing persons databases, including the NCIC data-
base in Washington, D.C. Until the body of a specific individual is
found and the data compared, no identification is possible.
- The quality of the antemortem dental record is critical to dental iden-
tification. Charting errors happen! As long as records are kept by
humans there will be human error. Dr. Jim McGivney, creator of
WinID, characterizes the most common charting errors as Flips,
Flops, and Slides. Flips occur when dentists or assistants erroneously
