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Dental Identification

Definition

The process of comparing antemortem dental records (radiographs, charts, models) against postmortem dental findings to establish or exclude identity. When records are complete, this is one of the most reliable identification methods.

Related terms

Bite-Mark Analysis
A pattern-comparison discipline in which a forensic odontologist attempts to link a bite wound on a victim to the dentition of a...
Conclusion Language
The standardised five-level scale the ABFO recommends for bite-mark opinions: identification, consistent with, inconclusive, excluded, and unsuitable for comparison. Each level has...
Daubert Standard
The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
Expert Witness
A person whose specialised knowledge is accepted by a court and who gives opinion evidence, not just factual evidence. Forensic auditors frequently...
Frye Standard
The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...

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