Textbook of Forensic Odontology Nitul Jain
INDEX
×
Chapter Notes

Save Clear


Forensic Sciences: The Historical Perspective and BranchesChapter 1

Nitul Jain
Chapter Overview
  • □ Identification parameters
  • □ Historical aspects
  • □ Events and advances
  • □ Most famous contributors to Forensic Sciences
  • □ What is a forensic dentist?
 
INTRODUCTION
Bodies may remain undiscovered until they are wholly or partially skeletonized for a number of reasons. Some bodies are deliberately concealed after death, whereas for others, death occurs in isolated or inaccessible areas. However, a proportion of severely decomposed bodies are found in the deceased's own home months, or even years after death (Fig. 1.1). Sometimes, these cases receive extensive media coverage and the sadness of the circumstances may be seen as an indictment on society and on responsible authorities. Long delays in the discovery of bodies in houses often occur because the deceased was socially isolated in life. Factors such as mental and physical illness or disability, drug and alcohol addiction, or trauma from previous abuse can contribute to, or accompany, a person's disengagement from society.
Modern conveniences, such as telephone banking, 24 hours shopping and internet access, can also help to eliminate the need for physical interaction with others. Additionally, automated payment systems can allow rent and bill paying to continue long after death. The discovery of skeletonized or partially skeletonized remains in dwellings raises numerous social and legal questions that must be addressed as part of a coronial investigation.
However, the effects of decomposition can complicate the autopsy and render some routine procedures, such as organ histology, less useful.
zoom view
Fig. 1.1: Decomposed body showing human remainsafter a catastrophe
2
The passage of time can also cause difficulties at other levels of the investigation since the recollections of witnesses potentially fade, and death scenes may become contaminated and altered.
Given the complexity of the medicolegal investigation required of these cases, it is preferable for a combination of specialists to address the major questions raised by the coroner or other relevant authority. There are a variety of techniques available from forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology and entomology that may help to establish the deceased's identity, cause of death, factors contributing to death and the timing of death.
Forensic identifications by their nature are multidisciplinary team efforts relying on positive identification methodologies as well as presumptive or exclusionary methodologies. Typically, this effort involves the cooperation and coordination of law enforcement officials, forensic pathologists, forensic odontologists, forensic anthropologists, serologists, criminalists, and other specialists as deemed necessary. In each discipline, there is the need to develop scientific evidence relative to the questions of fact regarding identification in a defensible manner grounded on general rules of acceptance, reliability and relevance.
Most techniques applied are used by all or most of the disciplines, often for slightly different purposes. In the forensic sciences, a great deal of effort is spent on the identity or confirmation of identity of the victim(s) and perpetrator(s). This labor intensive aspect of a medicolegal investigation focuses on the six major questions, asked in any such forensic investigation:
  1. Who is the victim?
  2. What are the injuries?
  3. How were the injuries sustained?
  4. Where did the injuries occur?
  5. When did the injuries occur?
  6. If the injuries were caused by another person, by whom?
Each of the questions are correlated. Most investigations involve several “autopsies”, one of the victim(s), one of the scene, and one of the circumstances of injury and/or death. These “autopsies” are designed to discover and preserve evidence, document that evidence, analyze that evidence, and apply that evidence towards reconstructing the events leading to the injury and/or death. Most such investigations focus on physical evidence that is deposited or transferred from victim to perpetrator and vice versa. This presumed relationship is known as Locard's principle and is the basis for much of what is attempted in the fields of criminalistics and forensic chemistry.
The development and application of molecular biology techniques, especially DNA profiling, reflects this principle and the current reliance on technology in medicolegal investigations.
 
IDENTIFICATION PARAMETERS
Legal certification of an individual's identity is based on a number of parameters most of which are centered about the individual's appearance and personal effects. As such, many persons are buried or cremated based on a visual identification or other presumptive identification methods. Where possible, a positive identification is preferred to a presumptive identification in such medicolegal cases. Positive identifications traditionally involve a comparison of pre and postmortem data which are considered unique to the individual. These methods include (Figs 1.2A to C):
  1. Dental comparisons,
  2. Fingerprints, palm prints, and footprints,
  3. DNA identifications, and
  4. Radiographic superimpositions (vertebrae, cranial structures including frontal sinuses, pelvic structures, bone trabeculae and prosthesis).
Presumptive identifications, which include visual recognition, personal effects, serology, anthropometric data, and medical history do not usually identify unique characteristics of the individual but rather present a series of general or class characteristics which may exclude others based on race, sex, build, age, blood group, etc.
3
zoom view
Figs 1.2A to C: One of the identification parameters used for human identification, (A) Fingerprints, (B) Foot prints, (C) Palm prints
Most positive identifications today are based on dental examinations and fingerprints and are fundamental procedures in medicolegal death investigations including mass disasters. The development of DNA analysis is providing investigators with yet another very important tool in the identification process.
The identification of unknown deceased persons is the primary focus of the forensic odontologist. This is usually achieved by comparison of the ante-mortem dental records and postmortem dental charts. There is usually copious circumstantial evidence to suggest identity when people are found deceased in their homes; however, formal confirmation is still required to eliminate doubt. Locating the treating dentist can be time consuming and sometimes impossible in cases involving socially isolated people, as they may not have visited a dentist for many years (if at all). Also, the dentist may be located far from where now they live, either interstate or overseas. However, despite the inherent difficulties, a search for treating dentists should always be attempted. This is especially true where no relatives can be located to provide a DNA sample for comparative analysis.
Odontologists may also examine the teeth and orofacial skeleton for trauma. They may potentially identify chips, breaks or recent tooth loss that can indicate antemortem trauma to the mouth. Such injuries could be sustained either as a result of non-accidental or accidental trauma. Odontologists can also examine the structure of the teeth and jaws, and degree of dental attrition for clues that may support anthropological age estimates.
 
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
The word Forensic is derived from the Latin forens(is): of or belonging to the forum, public, equivalent to for(um) forum + ens — of, belonging 4to + ic. By extension it came to also mean disputative, argumentative, rhetorical, belonging to debate or discussion. From there it is but a small step to the modern definition of forensic as pertaining to, connected with, or used in courts of judicature or public discussion and debate. Thus the forensic sciences encompass the application of specialized scientific and/or technical knowledge to questions of civil and criminal law, especially in court proceedings. Forensic Medicine has come to be recognized as a special science or discipline that deals with relationships and applications of medical facts and knowledge to legal problems. Some prefer to call it legal medicine or medical jurisprudence.
Evidence of the origin of legal or forensic medicine can be found in records of ancient people some thousands of years ago, when occasionally a law appears to influence medicine or medicine is found to influence or modify a law. The Egyptian, Imhotep, may have been the first to apply both the law and medicine to his surroundings. Hammurabi codified medical law circa 2200 BC, and medicolegal issues were covered in early Jewish law. Later, other civilizations — the Greeks, ancient India, the Roman Empire—evolved jurisprudential standards involving medical fact or opinion. Early cultures recognized the desirability of controlling the organization, duties, and liabilities of the medical profession. They also were acquainted with the importance of the knowledge and opinion of the medical person in the legal consideration of issues of great moment such as the use of drugs or poisons, the duration of pregnancy, virginity, superfetation, the prognosis of wounds in different body locations (a physician determined that only one of Caesar's 23 stab wounds was fatal), sterility and impotence, sexual deviation, and suspicious death. Early in the sixteenth century a separate discipline of forensic medicine began to emerge. New codes of law required expert medical testimony in trials of certain types of crime or civil action. The first medicolegal books appeared in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and, after 1650, lectures on legal medicine were given in Germany and France. The first book on medical jurisprudence in the English language appeared in 1788 and 19 years later the first Regius Chair in Forensic Medicine was recognized by the Crown at the University of Edinburgh. The English coroner's system was imported to the colonies in North America in 1607, and it was not until 1871 that Massachusetts, later followed by New York and other jurisdictions, established a medical examiner system. Upon this base of professionalism in death investigation, supported by the framework of solid scientific and technical advances during the twentieth century, was erected the modern structure of forensic medicine which covers a heterogeneous, sometimes loosely related, family of numerous disciplines or subspecialties sharing a common interest.
Forensic dentistry can be defined in many ways. One of the more elegant definitions is simply that forensic dentistry represents the overlap between the dental and the legal professions.
There is an extensive history of the distinctive nature of tooth arrangement with legal implications. As no two fingers are identical, neither two mouth nor two teeth are exactly identical. Identification of human remains by dental characteristics is a long standing and well established component of forensic science.
Right through history, the human dentition has been used numerous times in identifying individuals. Harvey (1973) has traced one of the earliest recorded incidences of dental identification to 66 AD, when the severed head of the wife of Roman emperor Nero was identified by a rival from her black anterior tooth. In (1193) AD, the Maharaja of Kannauj, Jai Chandra Rathor was identified by his false teeth following his death in a battle. The English king Charles ‘the bold’, who also died in battle in 1477, was identified from his dental features, courtesy the court physician who identified his two recently extracted teeth (Furness, 1972). 5Paul Revere is credited as being the first dentist to identify a person from dental features (Luntz, 1970). He identified his friend Joseph Warren, a victim in the American Revolution in 1775 from a silver and ivory bridge which he had prepared.
Gustafson (1962) suggests that the role of forensic odontology in human identification came to prominence only towards the end of the 19th century, after two major fires in Europe. The first occurred in 1881, when the ‘Ring Theatre’ in Vienna was destroyed during a performance, with 449 casualties. The second, the Charity Bazaar fire in Paris in 1897, resulted in the deaths of 127 people. In both these events, dental features were used for identification.
According to Harvey (1973), one of the dentists who assisted the identifications in Paris was a Cuban named Oscar Amoedo. In 1898, he wrote one of the first books on forensic odontology, L'art Dentaire en Medicine Legale, and is considered a pioneer of modern forensic dentistry.
According to Suzuki however, the first course in forensic dentistry was probably conducted by Professor Sadanori Mita of Japan as early as 1903. The correspondence course outlined “methods of examination, evaluation and classification of bite marks and the differences between ante- and post-mortem appearances”. This course subsequently formed the basis of his lectures at Tokyo Dental College between 1922 and 1936.
Forensic dentists in the 20th century have made major contributions in identification: notable among the cases are (Figs 1.3A and B) Adolph Hilter (1945), Zia–ul–Haq (1988) and Rajiv Gandhi (1991).
Apart from dental identification, forensic odontology is also applied in the investigation of crimes caused by the dentition, such as bite marks (Fig. 1.4). Bite marks are a common feature of sex crimes and violent fights. They may also occur on objects such as chewing gum or chocolate that may be found at a crime scene.
zoom view
Figs 1.3A and B: (A) German ruler Adolf Hitler, whose identification was done because of his dental prosthesis, (B) Rajiv Gandhi
6
zoom view
Fig. 1.4: Multiple bite marks on a victim's leg showing an important parameter of identification for the culprit
Bite marks, however, are not a recent discovery. As early as the 6th century AD, the Indian sage Vatsyayana had devoted an entire chapter on ‘love bites,’ with a detailed classification in the book Kama Sutra (Harvey, 1973).
In medieval Britain, during the reign of William I (1027–1087 AD), green wax seals with the impression of the king's teeth were implanted on state documents to avoid falsification and indicate the authenticity of the seal.
The use of bite marks as evidence in court can be traced back to 1692 in the United States.
Harvey (1973) cites a 1906 case where, a burglar was convicted in Britain because his dental models matched the marks left on cheese found at the crime scene. Subsequently there have been numerous cases that made use of bite marks with varying degrees of success. Therefore, bite marks remained a contentious area of forensic sciences. However, over the later half of the 20th century, bite mark procedures have greatly advanced and it is now routinely used in court proceedings in the West. Its objective application as evidence in crime can have far reaching implications for the society in general and criminology in particular.
Forensic dentists also handle bite marks caused by animals. This requires a basic knowledge of various animal dentitions, the study of which is known as comparative anatomy.
As a result of its versatile use, forensic dentists are considered an integral part of the forensic team of experts.
 
EVENTS AND ADVANCES
Keiser-Nielsen assessed the uniqueness of teeth mathematically.
Sognnaes et al (1982), demonstrated the uniqueness of bite marks even in identical twins by computer comparison.
Vale et al (1976) indicated at least 6 possible positions of each tooth to demonstrate individuality. Fellingham and coworkers have calculated that there are 1.8 × 1019 possible combinations of the 32 teeth being intact, decayed, missing or filled.
Sweet and Pretty considered the size, shape and pattern of the incisal or biting edges of upper and lower anterior teeth to be specific to an individual.
In the past, bite mark evidence was analyzed by the use of the transparent overlay technique. This method uses a clear thin sheet of acetate paper laid over a photographic transparency or print of the inflicted area. The marks of the bite are traced on paper and compared with the tracing of the incisal and cutting edges of the teeth of a suspect. By this method persons could be included or excluded as possible suspects.
Transilluminating the tissue and intensification of the image have produced sharp image details of damage to the tissue caused by biting forces. Transillumination is easily adopted for use with a cadaver but is of limited value with the living victim of a bite.
The xeroradiographic enhancement of the incisal edge is apparent. The impression left by the incisal edges can be accurately compared with the dentition producing the original bite.
Videotape analysis of bite mark evidence was introduced in a California court. Photography and videotaping of the evidence at right angles are absolutely necessary. Many hours of editing are needed to achieve results from the videotape.
7
David TJ et al have used scanning electron microscopy in bite mark analysis. With the use of SEM, what appeared to be class characteristics were clearly identified as individual characteristics.
David Sweet proposed a computer-based technique for the production of life sized bite mark comparison overlays. This method allows objective selection of the biting surfaces of a suspect's teeth from dental study casts, which can be used in bite mark analysis.
Over the later half of the 20th century, bite mark procedures have greatly advanced and are now routinely used in court proceedings in the West. Its objective application as evidence in crime can have far reaching implications for the society in general and criminology in particular.
 
MOST FAMOUS CONTRIBUTORS TO FORENSIC SCIENCES
1813, Mathiew Orfila: Father of modern toxicology, made significant contributions to the development of tests for the presence of blood in a forensic context and is credited as the first to attempt the use of a microscope in the assessment of blood and semen stains.
1835, Henry Goddard, of Scotland Yard's Police, first used bullet comparison to catch a murderer.
1879, Bertillon began to develop the science of anthropometry
1891, Hans Gross, (Fig. 1.5A) coined the word Criminalistics
1900, Karl Landsteiner (Fig. 1.5B) first discovered human blood groups and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work in 1930. Formed the basis of all subsequent work.
1928, Locard's Exchange Principle (Fig. 1.6), according to which whenever two objects come into contact there is always a transfer of material.
1977, Masato Soba, a latent print examiner was the first to develop latent prints intentionally by “Super glue (r)” fuming.
zoom view
Figs 1.5A and B: (A) Hans Gross, the important contributor to the field of forensic sciences. (B) Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the most commonly used blood grouping system
zoom view
Fig. 1.6: The Locard exchange principle
8
1998, FBI DNA database—NIDIS, enabling interstate cooperation in linking crimes, was put into practice.
2000, CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) Identification system used tracking suspects by DNA profiling
 
WHAT IS A FORENSIC DENTIST?
A forensic dentist is first a scientist. When he applies his scientific knowledge to assist juries, attorneys, and judges in understanding science, he is a forensic dentist. Forensic scientists are thinkers, good with details, good with putting pieces of a puzzle together, and curious. They may work in laboratories, go out to crime scenes or teach in colleges and universities.
 
Importance
Primarily deals with identification based on recognition of unique features present in an individual's dental structures. Forensic odontology plays a major role in identification on man made or natural disasters events that result in fatalities that may not be identifiable through conventional means as fingerprints. Relies on sound knowledge of teeth, jaws and incorporates dental anatomy, histology, radiography, pathology, dental material and developmental anatomy.
It delves into:
  1. Identifying unknown human remains through dental records
  2. Assisting at the location of the mass disaster
  3. Eliciting the ethnicity and assisting in building up a picture of lifestyle and diet of skeletal remains
  4. Determining the gender of unidentified
  5. Age estimation of both the living and deceased
  6. Recognition and analysis of bite marks found on victims of attack
  7. Presenting evidence in court as an expert witness.
zoom view
Fig. 1.7: The ten branches of Forensic Sciences, as recognized by AAFS
9
The American academy of forensic sciences recognizes 10 areas of forensic endeavor (Fig. 1.7):
  1. Criminalistics
  2. Engineering science
  3. General jurisprudence
  4. Odontology
  5. Pathology/biology
  6. Psychiatry
  7. Behavior science
  8. Questioned documents
  9. Toxicology
  10. Physical anthropology
Criminalistics: Analyze, compare, identify, and interpret physical evidence. Involved in area of laboratory testing of various types of physical evidence, including biologic fluids, DNA and suspicious chemicals.
Engineering science: Structural aspects of crime/ accident scene. Applies the principles of mathematics and science for to the purpose of the law. How could the accident have happened? Why did the airplane crash?
General jurisprudence: Application of science to assist courts in resolving questions of fact in criminal and civil trials.
Forensic dentistry (odontology): A vital branch of forensic science that involves the application of dental science to the identification of unknown human remains and bite marks, using both physical and biological dental evidence.
Pathology: The study of disease: Pathologists study disease by performing an autopsy and examining the tissues removed, Analysis of fluids taken from the body, such as blood or urine.
Forensic anthropologists: Identify individuals killed in disasters resulting in the death and mutilation of bodies
Forensic psychiatry and behavior sciences: Address a broad range of legal issues. In criminal law, such issues as competence (e.g. competency to stand trial and to testify) and the assessment of mental illness or innocence by reason of mental illness or defect are the focus.
Questioned documents: The document examiner discovers and proves the facts concerning documents and related material, such as ink, paper, toner from a copier or fax, and ribbons, such as from a typewriter. Questions such as: Who wrote this? Is this a true signature? Has this document been altered? Are there additions and/or erasures on this check?
Toxicology: the study of harmful effects of chemicals or drugs on living systems. It primarily deals with the medicolegal aspects of toxicology.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
  1. Archer MS, et al. Social isolation and delayed discovery of bodies in houses: The value of forensic pathology, anthropology, odontology and entomology in the medicolegal investigation. Forensic Science International 2005;151:259–65.
  1. Fairgrieve SI, SEM Analysis of incinerated teeth as an aid to positive identification. J Forensic Sci. 1994;39(2):557–65.
  1. Melissa N. The role of the dentist at crime scenes. Dent Clin N Am 2007;51:837–56.
  1. Pretty IA, Sweet. A look at forensic dentistry—Part 1: The role of teeth in the determination of human identity. British Dental Journal 2001;190:359–66.