Talk about an attention-getting headline: “Illinois Cop’s 3rd Wife Could Be Exhumed as Search for Missing 4th Wife Continues”. When I came across the headline, I was most struck by the words “exhumed”, “missing 4th wife”, and “cop”. However, my job as a dental website writer has warped my sensibilities a bit, and my next thought was, “I wonder if they’ll examine her dental records”. Forensics and dentistry – now there’s some food for thought…

I was discussing the topic with a colleague whose sensibilities are also clearly a little warped, since he (jokingly) suggested advertising quality dentistry that would last long enough for one’s relatives to identify one’s body through dental records. As morbid as it sounds, there is some truth to the statement; why are person’s teeth such tell-tale evidence in crime investigations?

The answer, according to Wikipedia, is fourfold, and relates to forensic dentistry, or forensic odontology. First, a person’s teeth are relatively unique to that person; they indicate the person’s age, lifestyle, and unique tooth-growth patterns, and a person with adequate dental records can be traced and identified according to those records – yet another reason to seek quality dentistry. A victim with missing or broken teeth, as well as bite marks on the victim or suspect, can be evidence of foul-play. Moreover, since the teeth do not decay at the same rate as other body tissues, they can be used to identify a body long after death.

Forensic odontology has played a key role in famous criminal cases, including the prosecution of Ted Bundy. Hopefully, a study of the aforementioned third wife’s dental records will provide some evidence to the discovery of her successor.