Antemortem (AM) Record
Definition
Any dental documentation from the person's life: radiographs, clinical charts, study models, photographs, and prosthetic records. These form the known standard against which postmortem findings are compared.
- Includes
- Radiographs, clinical charts, study models, photographs, prosthetics
- Source
- Documentation from the person's life
- Function
- Known standard for postmortem comparison
- Field
- Dental identification
Common questions
Why are study models sometimes more useful than photographs as an antemortem record?+
Study models capture exact tooth position, wear and arch shape in three dimensions, which survives comparison to postmortem remains far more reliably than a photograph that only shows a two-dimensional smile at one angle and lighting.
What makes prosthetic records a strong identification point?+
Dentures, crowns, implants and bridges are often custom-fabricated with materials, shapes or serial-marked components unique enough to narrow identification quickly, sometimes even without a full dental chart comparison.
Related terms
- Concordant Feature
- A characteristic that matches between the AM and PM records. Concordances build the case for identification; the more unique and numerous they...
- Discordant Feature
- A characteristic that differs between AM and PM findings. A discordance must either be explained (e.g., new dental work since the last...
- Exclusion
- The categorical conclusion that one or more examined features are clearly inconsistent in a way that cannot be explained by projection angle,...
- Positive Identification
- The categorical conclusion in comparative radiography that all examined features are concordant, no feature is inconsistent, and the overall pattern of correspondence...
- Postmortem (PM) Examination
- The systematic dental examination conducted on remains after death, producing a chart, radiographs, and photographs that document the current state of the...