Hello everyone, welcome to my blog about Dentistry. In this blog post, I will be writing what I did for science class today.
Dental Forensics or the Teeth can Tell
Forensic dentists assist in crime solving by studying teeth and teeth impressions. Dental records are often used to identify people. Because teeth are one of the hardest substances in the human body, they are frequently well preserved. Dental x-rays or records showing fillings, position of teeth, etc., can help forensic dentists find a match of teeth to the individual. Eighty percent of the time, teeth are used to identify unknown victims.
Aim: To analyse the impressions made by teeth.
Equipment:
- Styrofoam
- Scissors
- Pen/Pencil
Steps:
- Take the wedge of the styrofoam plate and place it in your mouth between your teeth
- But down on the styrofoam plate
- Remove them from your mouth
- Label one side the top and the other side the bottom teeth
- Study the teeth impressions
Findings:
Top Teeth – 6
Bottom Teeth – 7
What other characteristics of the impressions do you notice? One missing, it flat from the bottom and from the top.
Top Teeth Impressions: They are spaced out, there is one gap on the styrofoam, but not in my teeth in my mouth.
Compare the top teeth impressions to the bottom: The top teeth are more spread out than the bottom
Bottom Teeth impressions: There are 7 teeth at the bottom, and they are flat.
Are there teeth missing, spaces. chips, etc.?: I don’t have any missing teeth but in the styrfoam there is a space missing in the top part but not at the bottom.
Questions:
- How many teeth does an adult have? – 32 teeth
- How many teeth does a child have? – 20 baby teeth
- Why are teeth used for forensic records? – It is used to identify a deceased victim in forensic examinations.
- What are 3 things that forensic dentists use teeth for? – Estimate the age, analyse bite marks, identification of human remains.
- When were dental records first used? – 1962 during the Salem Witch Trials
Thanks for reading,
Shreeya