Forensic Dentistry is a discipline within forensic science that involves the management, examination, evaluation, and presentation of dental evidence in criminal or civil proceedings (1). The primary goal of forensic dentists/odontologists is to identify humans (1, 3). Forensic dentists have many methods used for dental identification. Some of these methods include analysis of bite marks, labeling of dental prostheses (dentures), rugoscopy (palatal wrinkles found on the roof of the mouth), and cheiloscopy (lip impressions) (1). This article will focus on the process used by forensic dentists to identify humans using teeth, how forensic dentists conduct bite mark comparisons, the methods/techniques used to perform these comparisons, and why forensic dentistry is a important discipline in forensic science. The references cited in this article were chosen because they are informative and clear. Most of the articles cited had multiple photos which made the information much easier to follow. Forensic dentists have played an important role in the identification of remains in mass disasters, in crime investigations, in ethnic studies, and in the identification of decomposed bodies and disfigured bodies in situations such as fires and traffic accidents (1). Teeth are considered a great shape for identification since teeth are primarily composed of enamel. Enamel is the hardest tissue in the body and can withstand extremely harsh conditions (1). There are two forms of dental identification of humans. These two forms are comparative and when ante-mortem (before death) dental records are not available. The comparative form of identification compares ante-mortem and post-mortem (after death) dental records (1). Medical records are… the center of the paper… not to be found, forensic dentists use a post-mortem dental profile to help narrow the search (3). Bite marks are quite common in forensic dentistry. The American Board of Forensic Odontology has divided the analysis of bite marks into 3 main phases. These steps include describing the bite marks, collecting evidence from the victim and suspect, and finally analyzing the bite marks (5). The methods used to perform this task are the manual process using tracing, copier-generated overlays, the 2D polyline method, and the painting method (4). While there are increasingly improved methods for comparing bite marks, there is still a major problem. The problem concerns the physical properties of the skin that can cause the bite mark to change (5). Hopefully, more research will be conducted in the future to overcome this problem.
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