IDENTIFICATION
The goal of a forensic anthropological examination is individualizing a set of human remains, often referred to as a “positive identification.” This moves beyond class characteristics, no matter how narrow a classification, into the realm of uniqueness. To achieve this level of certainty, the data have to support the conclusion that the remains represent those of one, and only one, person to the exclusion of all other people. Because most people regularly visit their dentists, dental records and X-rays are the most common form of ante-mortem record that leads to a positive identification, as demonstrated in Figure 1. Because many years may have passed since the last X-ray and the forensic comparison, having a skilled forensic odontologist consult on the examination may be necessary. Any differences between the X-rays taken before death and after death must be explainable and not be significant for the identification to be positive. Other X-rays can lead to positive identifications as well. A structure in the frontal bone, the frontal sinus, is considered to be unique to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty. Likewise, the internal structure of postcranial bones is considered to be unique as well. Surgeries, healed fractures, and disease may all be documented radiographically and also can lead to positive comparisons.
FIGURE 1 For a forensic odontologist to identify someone, he or she must have dental X-rays taken prior to the person’s death. It is then a simple matter of comparing these with X-rays taken of the remains and looking for points of comparison, shown with arrows in the figure.
Identification through the comparison of ante- and postmortem X-rays is considered the best method for skeletal remains. People’s teeth vary in size, number, and position and the amount, size, type, location, and extent of dental work also varies enormously from person to person. Taken in combination, this natural and medical variation is such that it would be unthinkable to find two people whose teeth and dental work were exactly the same. X-rays can also document other individualizing traits, such as the habitual wear mentioned earlier, and some of these may be corroborated by family or friends.
