How do dental impressions help police identify unidentified dead people since most people don’t get dental impressions when they’re alive?
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Dentist here.
The combination of number, distribution, spacing and size of teeth plus the restorations in the mouth, orientation and curving of roots, and extra or missing teeth make almost every mouth unique.
The family of Mr. X calls the cops because he’s missing. A year later they find a skull in the woods. The cops will find who was his dentist from the family and will subpoena the dental records. A forensic dentist will compare the records with the teeth in the skull and confirm or deny an identification with almost 100% accuracy. Impressions do not play a big role in identification, they are more important in matching bite marks.
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