Who is a Forensic Odontologist?

Last June I had the luck of spotting a post on Instagram that was advertising a summer course in Forensic Odontology organized by the University of Dundee (UK) and, being a Tooth Fairy, I couldn’t miss an opportunity such as this, so I went ahead and applied for it!

I’ve loved the programme, the ‘guests’ and the organizers! A perfect introduction to the topic to whoever is interested in pursuing this profession (I highly recommend it! Here for more info).

However, what I really want to talk about in this post is the role of forensic odontologists: who are they? what do they do? why are they so important?

As a forensic anthropology graduate, I knew only a little about the field of forensic odontology. Not much is said, as it is fairly a whole different and complex area of study. My knowledge on the subject was limited to victim identification through comparison of ante and post mortem (before and after death) dental records and the 'magic' of identifying an aggressor only through a bite mark! Fascinating, right? Unfortunately, things (especially in forensics) are never this easy.

But let's go back a few steps, just to give you a bit more background.

Identification is a keyword in forensics.

The anthropologist relies on skeletal anatomy and specific anatomical traits to draw a biological profile of an individual. This includes their biological sex (not their gender!), age, stature, and (even if controversial now*) ancestry as well.

In short, the goal is that of gathering as much information as possible from the observation of a skeleton in order to recognize someone or make the victim recognizable again. Anthropologists do learn something about dental analyses for identification, but not much. That is left to the specialized figure of a forensic odontologist.

It came like a bit of a surprise to me how much forensic odontologists actually work with the livings, other than the dead.

The second surprise, instead, arrived when, following the summer programme, I learnt that actually bite marks (which ironically is the most commonly known technique of forensic odontology) are really not that reliable nor really accepted in court!

So, if it's not bite marks what is it that they do?

From what I've learned so far, forensic odontologists mostly come from a dentistry pathway (meaning that the majority of them are dentists who decided to apply their skills to forensic cases). They mostly compare ante mortem and post mortem records, relying not only on missing teeth but also types and shapes of fillings, for example; they can evaluate fractures (e.g. following an accident or assault); they can estimate the age of an individual.

Despite being considered one of the three primary DVI (Disaster Victim Identification) forms of identification by the INTERPOL (the International Criminal Police Organisation) alongside fingerprints and DNA analysis, surprisingly forensic odontology is not as well known as its 'sisters' by the general public.

[I'm gonna blame the "CSI-kinda-shows" for this, as they only slightly mention dental records every now and then!]

Nevertheless, since I am also still learning about this topic, I planned an interview with Dr Ademir Franco, organizer of the summer programme in Dundee, to have a professional insight into the world of forensic odontology!

Do you have any questions for Dr Franco?

Drop me a message and I will happily ask for you!

The interview will be later published in the blog section "A chat with"!

Hope you found this interesting,

thank you for reading!

[*If you want to know more about the controversy of ancestry in bioanthropology, see the work of Dr DiGangi and Dr Bethard]