Post-Mortem Dental Profile
Definition
The systematic recording of teeth present, restorations, missing teeth, and pathology from an unidentified decedent, used to search antemortem records for a match.
- Field
- Forensic odontology
- Recorded
- Teeth present, restorations, missing teeth, pathology
- Purpose
- Search ante-mortem dental records for a match
- Subject
- Unidentified decedent
Common questions
Why are restorations especially valuable in this profile?+
Fillings, crowns and other dental work follow the individual choices of both dentist and material, producing a pattern specific enough that a small number of matching restorations can narrow a search dramatically, unlike natural tooth shape which varies less between people.
Can a post-mortem dental profile be built without any teeth remaining?+
No. It depends on recovered dentition being present to examine, so profiling is not possible on remains where the jaw or teeth have been lost to trauma, fire or severe decomposition; identification then has to rely on other post-mortem data.
Related terms
- Ante-Mortem Record
- Any dental document created during a person's lifetime: clinical charts, radiographs (periapical, panoramic, bitewing), photographs, study models, and treatment notes. These are...
- 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...
- Dental Age Estimation
- Methods that use the stage of tooth formation, eruption, wear, or regressive tissue changes to estimate a person's chronological age when documentary...
- DVI (Disaster Victim Identification)
- The systematic multi-agency process for identifying victims of mass-casualty events, governed by the INTERPOL DVI Guide 2018 revision. Organises work into five...
- Forensic Odontology
- The branch of dentistry that applies dental knowledge and methods to legal proceedings, including identification of the dead, bite-mark analysis, and age...