The most common role of the forensic dentist is the identification of deceased individuals. Dental identification of humans occurs for a number of different reasons and in a number of different situations. The bodies of victims of violent crimes, fires, motor vehicle accidents and work place accidents, can be disfigured to such an extent that identification by a family member is neither reliable nor desirable. Persons who have been deceased for some time prior to discovery and those found in water also present unpleasant and difficult visual identifications. Dental identifications have always played a key role in natural and manmade disaster situations and in particular the mass casualties normally associated with aviation disasters.
Many people are familiar with the concept of dental identification; it is frequently mentioned on television news. But the nuances and complexities of the process are rarely understood. The central dogma of dental identification is that post-mortem dental remains can be compared with dental records, including written notes, study casts, radiographs, etc, to confirm identity. Clearly, individuals with numerous and complex dental treatments are often easier to identify than those individuals with little or no restorative treatment. The teeth not only represent a suitable repository for such unique and identifying features, they also survive most post-mortem events that can disrupt or change other body tissues
It's quite exciting, really. Finally, there is something in dentistry where one is not confined to the white-washed walls of the clinic, listening to the sound of the handpiece for an average of 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year (considering there's 2 weeks of holiday...). Sure, the wage is not as flash as that of a practising dentist, but it really depends where your heart lies, in the voice of life. Money cannot buy the world that can offer your travel, challenge, excitement -not to mention friendship established over various fields and countries. Yes, travel, lateral thinking and deductive reasoning, associating with people with different perceptions to a possible, plausible story to a presenting case...don't it sound fun?
So, consider a piece of chewy found at the site of the crime scene
With this, a positive cast can be made, to match with the suscept's teeth.
And the suspect's teeth morphology are match with that of the cast.
...So, there goes the chewing gum....
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Jessica Fridrich, a researcher at Binghamton University (and the inventor of speed cubing!) has reportedly filed two patents for technologies that would allow to determine which camera a digital photo has been shot with. Due to tiny irregularities in the production process and in the imaging-chips themselves, every camera produces a random, yet unique noise pattern, the scientists claim. These patterns could be used in forensics to determine whether an image was taken with the same cam, given that two or more pictures or the device itself are available for testing.
This would add yet another to the almost traditional links between cameras and guns because it resembles very much the method of ballistic fingerprinting with which the gun a bullet was fired from can be identified. Law enforcement have already expressed their needs for such a software, since it would enable them to identify the sources of pictures on the web to some extent. But just in cases of illegal porn, of course.
I thought you might find this interesting, it never crossed my mind. I'll have to be careful next time I murder someone and take pictures of it. I kid I kid
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