Tsunami
On the 26th
December 2004 a tsunami hit the countries bordering on the Indian Ocean.
Forensic
odontology alone was responsible for 70.3% of identifications, and in two more cases
(5.4%) the identification was established
using a combination of odontology and fingerprint information.
The missing
victims were 3647. 2044 foreign victims, 1603 Thai victims. 90.36% of the
foreign victims had been identified. 74.42% of Thai victims have been
identified thus far.
Comparison
of dental data in Phuket/Thailand was based on the registered data of victims
(PM data) and missing persons (AM data). Due to the poor availability of AM
dental data for the Thai population, only a small number of Thai victims could
be identified by this procedure.
Hence a large majority of the identified persons were non-Thai
victims, for whom ante-mortem dental data of high quality were easily
and rapidly available.
Theodore Bundy
One of main events that has evidenced the importance of forensic
dentistry.
On 15 January 1978, two university students, Lisa Levy,
and her roommate, Martha Bowman, became the latest victims of a notorious
serial-killer in Florida, (US).
Levy was raped and struck on the
head with a blunt object while Bowman was strangled with a pair of pantyhose.
The police found few print smudges and sperm samples but they later turned out
to be inconclusive.
There was also an odd bitemark on Levy’s left buttock and
the investigating officer took its photograph for further analysis.
The
suspect, Theodore Bundy, who had been seen fleeing the crime-scene area under
suspicious circumstances by an eye-witness, was later arrested by the police.
His dentition was examined by a forensic odontologist, Dr. Richard Souviron,
who then traced Bundy’s dental impression onto a transparent sheet and laid it
over the real-size photograph of the bitemark.
At the trial, Dr. Souviron
testified that the indention of the bitemark was unique and showed how it
matches with Bundy’s dental impression.
At the end of the trial, the jury found
Bundy guilty as charged and accordingly, the trial judge sentenced him to
death.
This was the first case in Florida’s legal history that relied heavily
on bitemark evidence.
World War II
The
beginning was April 20, 1945, which the assault on Berlin by the Soviets was
imminent. The next day, Hitler had a discussion with his armament
minister, they both came to the conclusion that it would be better to end his
life as Führer.
But there was the danger that he would be captured alive. He
was afraid that his body might fall into the hands of his enemy to be
displayed as a trophy. He gave orders that his body should be cremated.
Also his mistress, Eva Braun, would die alongside him.
On April 30, Hitler
sent for Bormann and told him the time had come. He would shoot himself
that afternoon, and Eva Braun would also commit suicide. He wanted their
bodies to be burned with gasoline that his chauffeur would obtain.
Hitler
retreated behind the doors of his study, and Eva Braun followed him immediately.
Some 10
minutes later, the valet opened the door. They found Hitler and Eva Braun
sitting alongside on a small sofa. Hitler's head drooped lifelessly. Blood
dripped from a bullet hole in his right temple. His pistol lay by his
foot.
Within
minutes, the bodies of Adolf Hitler and his wife were wrapped in blankets.
The corpses were then lifted from the sofa and carried through the bunker and
into the garden.
Hitler's
personal adjutant, who had been commissioned with overseeing the burning of the
bodies, laid the bodies outside in the garden side by side in a suitable
spot that is close to the bunker. Suddenly, extremely hazardous and unceasing
rain of shells from the Soviet barrage continued to bombard the whole area.
Little remained of Hitler's and Eva's bodies. The intense bombardment that continued
for another 24 hours played its own part in destroying and scattering the
human remains.
When the Soviet victors arrived there on May 2, they
immediately began a vigorous search for the bodies. Nine days later, they
showed Fritz Echtmann, a dental technician who had worked for Hitler's dentist,
a cigar box containing part of a mandibular bone with two dental bridges
and one isolated dental bridge. Echtmann was able to identify from his records
the dental work of Hitler.
The
photographic document shown above was the upper arch gold
bridge with crowns and abutments, and a double cantilevered pontic at each end.
Also, shows several well preserved natural teeth in
the mandible.
Hitler's
dentist, Dr. Hugo Johannes Blaschke, who treated Hitler from 1934 to 1945. Later that
year, he was captured and questioned by U.S. Army officers. He described there
all Hitler's teeth characteristics and treatment history which were found to be
compatible with the examination.
On other hand, five x-rays found in the U.S. National Archives, taken by
Hitler's physicians which had been made in diagnosing of the sinus regions
(Figure
2) which that's confirming both remnants and
descriptions provided by Hitler's dentist.
Beginning of Forensic Dentistry
Claudius
Agrippina
Lollia Paulina
The earliest dental identification began with the Agrippina and the Lollia Paulina case. Shortly after her marriage in the
year 49 A.D to Claudius, Emperor of Rome, Agrippina, began plotting to secure
her position.
Because she feared that the rich divorcee Lollia Paulina might still
be a rival for her husband, Agrippina soon decided that it would be safer if
Lollia Paulina was dead. Agrippina sent her own soldiers to kill Lollia
Paulina, the soldiers were instructed to bring back her head. Cutting off the
head after inflicting death was not uncommon in those days, the only positive
proof of death being visual. Agripinna stared at the severed head, unable to
recognize the distorted face; she parted the lips with her fingers looking for
Lollia Paulina’s teeth, which were known to have certain distinctive
characteristics. Only then was she satisfied that it was Lollia Paulina.
It
marks the first use of dental identification of which there is record.
Forensic Odontologists
They usually work as regular dentists much of the time, performing forensic examinations as needed at the request of local law enforcement or the medical examiner. In death cases, the forensic odontologist may go to the crime or disaster scene.
Otherwise, the measurements and x-rays are taken as part of the autopsy.
Since crimes and disasters can happen at any time, a forensic odontologist “on call” must be ready to work long hours, day or night, on holidays and on weekends.
The work is highly detailed, demands extremely fine motor skills and requires extraordinary precision and accuracy. Complex equipment, including computers, microscopes and other technologies, may be used in the identification process.
Forensic odontology requires attention to detail and the ability to work patiently to complete a lengthy process step-by-step without rushing.
Accurate and complete records must be kept, and the forensic odontologist must be able to make conclusions based solely on the physical evidence available.
Such close involvement with the investigation of crimes and mass disasters can be emotionally disturbing.
