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cone beam – international magazine of cone beam dentistry

special _ forensic odontology I lated this sentiment better than most when he said, “Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its deadandIwillmeasurewithmathematicalexactness the tender mercies of its people, their loyalty to high ideals, and their regard for the laws of the land.” Hal Hallenstein, the Victorian State Coroner from 1986 to 1994, also had firm views concerning the importance of human identification, articulated in the following quotation: “It is a hallmark of our civil- isation that we regard it as an affront, an indignity, an abrogation of our responsibilities, that a person could live amongst us, die and be buried without a name.”Infact,theimportanceofidentificationofthe deceased is enshrined in the Victorian Coroners Act 2008 (Section 67), which states “A coroner investi- gating a death must find, if possible, the identity of the deceased, the cause of death, and the circum- stances in which the death occurred.” Positive identification of the deceased not only satisfies a commitment to probity, but also resolves many legal issues surrounding an individual’s death, such as inheritance and life insurance. If a deceased person remains unidentified, then technically he or she will not be declared dead for a number of years, thuscreatingfurtherdistresstofamilieswhonotonly are unable to put their lost loved one to rest, but may suffer financially as well. Personalidentificationofthedeceased,andocca- sionally the living, is achieved through a variety of scientificandsometimesunscientificmethods.Prac- titioners from forensic science, forensic medicine, law enforcement and coroners’ offices apply their own particular set of skills to an identification prob- leminordertoarriveatananswer.Themostcommon method used to identify the deceased in all jurisdic- tionsisundoubtedlyvisualrecognitionbyarelativeor closefriend.Thereiscontinualdebateconcerningthe veracity of this method, given the propensity for er- ror, which has been well documented, especially in mass casualty events and in situations in which the deceased has suffered trauma to the face. From the forensic medical/scientific perspective, visual recog- nitionisnotproofofidentity,butisonlypresumptive. _Theory of human identification Methods used to achieve positive human identi- fication can be separated into two broad categories. The first consists of those methods that are pre- sumptiveforidentification,suchascircumstantial evidence, property associated with the body, and visual recognition. These methods involve a high degreeofsubjectivityandrelyonidentifiersthatare not intrinsic to the body itself, are dependent on lay interpretation,andthereforecanbefalsifiedormis- taken (commonly known as secondary identifiers). The second category relies on scientific analysis of identifiersthatareintrinsictothebody,suchasden- tal restorations, fingerprints, DNA, and verifiable medical records (primary identifiers). These involve characteristics that can be objectively appraised and compared to ante-mortem exemplars in both a quantitative and a qualitative way and that are dif- ficult or impossible to falsify. Of all the scientific methods, molecular biology is the only method that can mathematically quan- tify the degree of certainty for a particular match, with the other methods (including odontology) being somewhat dependent on more subjective methodology and expert opinion. This reliance on even a small level of subjectivity can raise issues in courts when lay people do not have a deep under- standing of the methods employed in an expert’s conclusion. I 33cone beam1_2015 Figs. 2a–c_A more difficult case highlighting that sometimes a degree of interpretation is required. Fig. 2a Fig. 2b Fig. 2c

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