I’ve seen them on shows and stuff and it got me wondering about them. Like are they even a real thing? How are bodies identified by dental records?
In: Biology
Every person’s teeth are just a bit different from others. If there is a history of that person, say xrays, and chart notes, a dentist or forensic investigator can general confirm if the remains are the same as the records.
It’s not like there is a huge database or something, but if they find just your skeleton and teeth and they think it’s tom Smith, the can compare it with Tom Smits dental x-rays and stuff, and see if the fillings match. It’s more for positively identifying somoe who you probably already think you know who it is
You get X-rays, mouldings, 3D modelling etc of your mouth/teeth from time to time at the dentists. The size, shape, layout etc is unique to you, like a fingerprint.
The enamel on your teeth is a super hard to destroy material. So it’s likely it survives many situations where a person gets killed. It’s likely to survive situations where the rest of the body is damaged too.
So they match up the teeth they find in the body to the records from your dentist.
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