Page 27 - GP Fall 2022_Neat

Forensic Odontology-When the Teeth do the Talking

in the Legal System!

Author: Randolph L. Mitchell, DMD, F-AAFS

Forensics, by definition, is the application dentist. The ante mortem and post mortem after the bite occurs by a double swab tech-
of scientific methods and techniques to the records must match each other in a logical nique. The aftershocks of this unscientif-
investigation of legal issues. Dental identi- chronological fashion with no “impossible ic technique, that forensic odontologists as
fication has been done visually as far back findings”, such as a tooth known to be miss- a group failed to distance itself from, still
as Roman times, but true forensic odontol- ing in the “believed to be” but being present haunts forensic odontology to this day.
ogy was not used in court cases in the US in the cadaver. Often, due to the condition
until 1849. The major use for forensic odon- of the remains, there aren’t full mouth post The key thing in forensic odontology, and

tology is to positively identify human re- mortem dental remains, but fragments of all forensic fields, is to use the “KISS” Prin-
mains, remains that are damaged beyond jaw, individual teeth, etc. found with the ciple “Keep It Scientific, Scientist” - in pos-
visual recognition by fire, decomposition, cadaver. These fragments require careful itive identification. Making a positive iden-
fragmentation, or blunt force trauma. The categorization of the remains in order to tification means just that, THERE IS NO
military has used forensic odontology for create the post mortem dental record and of- DOUBT WHATSOEVER, with 100%
years in positive identification of wartime ten have areas of “no information available” certainty using valid techniques and in-
for comparison to the” believed formation. The techniques used must be
to be’s” dental record. scientifically based on sound logic and leave
no doubt about the validity of the identifica-
Another valuable use of teeth in tion. It is ok, and even proper, to say that
the human identification process there is “inadequate information to make a
is the extraction of DNA from the scientific positive identification” or that the
pulp chambers of the cadaver’s remains are “consistent with” the believed
teeth. Ideally these teeth should to be, but “more information is needed in
be unrestored, as heat from op- order to make a scientific positive identifi-
erative treatments can cause ne- cation”. It is always proper to admit that a
crosis of the pulp and denature technique has limits of effectiveness. Rath-
the DNA. To extract the DNA, er than “stretching the truth”, use only
the tooth is frozen using liquid irrefutable facts. Let your conscience be
nitrogen, and then milled to dust your guide in all that you do, you’ll sleep
(think of a coffee grinder!), then better!
the DNA is recovered from the
dust, amplified, and analyzed for Dr. Mitchell graduated
comparison to an object from the from the University of
casualties. The teeth are the hardest and “believed to be’s” home (razor, toothbrush) Pennsylvania School of
most durable structures in the human body for a DNA identity match. It is important to Dental Medicine, prac-
and dental restorative materials are also use techniques that rely on facts only that ticed general dentistry
very durable. This combination of durabil- leave nothing to the imagination or indi- in Philadelphia for two
ity and stability makes dental identification vidual interpretation for accurate identifica- years, before moving
to Lyons, NY where he
a useful form of positive scientific identifi- tion. A tooth is a DNA vault, constructed of practiced general dentistry for 36 years.
cation, along with nuclear DNA, mitochon- enamel and dentin, and the results it shows Dr. Mitchell is on the faculty of the Uni-
drial DNA, and fingerprints. Although the can be irrefutable. versity of Pennsylvania School of Den-
legal aspect of positive identification is very tal Medicine and Adjunct Associate at
important, one of the most valuable parts That being said, forensic odontology is fi- SUNY Potsdam in the Chemistry and
of a positive identification is that it allows nally recovering from a “black eye” given Anthropology Departments. He became
the process of closure for the family of the to it by its endorsement and refusal to let go interested in dental forensics after the
deceased to begin, while ending their worry of bite-mark identification in criminal cases. September 11 attacks, taking his train-
and doubt. Bite-mark identification was based on the ing in forensic dentistry and Anthropol-
belief that the skin is an accurate impres- ogy from the Armed Forces Institute of
The initial step in dental identification is ac- sion material when bitten. Sadly, biting the Pathology. Dr. Mitchell has been the
complished by examination of the cadaver. skin is like biting a water balloon; the skin forensic odontologist for the Monroe

The examination consists of a visual oral compresses along multiple axes, resulting County Office of the Medical Examiner
exam and a series of radiographic images in an inaccurate and distorted impression of since 2009. He is a Fellow in the Amer-
of all dental remains. Using the findings the dentition. Many wrongful convictions ican Academy of Forensic Sciences and
of the dental examination, a post mortem were based on this “technique” and have a member of the American Society of
dental record is fabricated for the cadaver. since been overturned. Bitemark evidence Forensic Odontology. Dr. Mitchell is

That post mortem record is compared to an is no longer admissible in legal cases with a Life Member of the ADA and DSSNY.
ante mortem dental record, obtained from the single exception of DNA from the biter He lives in Newark, NY and loves bicy-
the dental records of the “believed to be’s” collected from the bite mark immediately cling, reading, and his family!!

www.nysagd.org l Fall 2022 l GP 27