Bite Marks Dr M Diamond Dental Identification Victims

Bite Marks Dr. M. Diamond

Dental Identification • Victims – Especially from fires or explosions – By dental records • Suspects – Match dental impressions to bite mark impressions – On skin or bones • 30 – 76 comparison factors to consider

Teeth • Tools • Tooth mark is like a tool mark • Chip, get worn down, shift or be reshaped • Also – Restorations, fillings, breakage, tooth loss, injury, etc. – individualizes

Charting Teeth • Each tooth assigned a number, 1 - 32 – #1 = upper right third molar – #32 = lower right third molar • Each tooth has 5 visible surfaces

Physical Characteristics • Distance from cuspid to cuspid • Shape of mouth arch • Tooth alignment • Tooth width and thickness • Spacing between teeth • Overbite/underbite • • Missing teeth Curves of biting edges Unique dentistry Wear patterns – Chips – grinding

First Bite Mark Case • Scotland, 1967 • Linda Peacock, 15 • Found beaten and strangled • Clothes in disarray • Bruise on right breast • Bite mark • Showed uneven teeth

Evidence • Witnesses had seen male and female together near crime scene • Inmates of detention center for young men questioned • Impressions taken of 30 • Narrowed to 5 • Additional impressions • Arrived at suspect (Gordon Hay, 17) • Pits from hypocalcination • Jagged teeth • Other evidence – Hay had come in late the night of the murder – Had mud on clothes – Reportedly had met victim recently • Convicted of murder • Bite mark evidence part of profiling – Indicates psychological factors