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Identification through teeth
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More from VenturaEight years ago off the coast of Ventura County an Alaska Air passenger plain carrying 88 persons crashed in the ocean. Several dentists including forensic dentist C. Michael Bowers were enlisted to identify over 22 bodies by way of dental records.
Of the 88 persons deceased, 20 did not have any dental records for comparison. Over 100 dental remains were recovered from the crash site and they were all compared to dental charts by Bowers and other dentists.
All recovered human remains from the crash site were brought to a portable morgue which had been established in a maintenance workhouse at the Port Hueneme Navy Base. Remains were later examined at the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office.
For Bowers, the investigation and the identification of victims was very intense, but gratifying since closure was brought to families.
"If done correctly, bite mark analysis and dental identification is close in accuracy to DNA analysis, but still a subjective science," says Bowers. "Dental identification dates back over hundreds of years."
Bowers is a local dentist who specializes in forensic dentistry including bite mark analysis and dental identification. Bowers has published books on the subject and has provided hours of courtroom testimony in bite mark cases.
People have been imprisoned by it and others have been identified by it. For years now, forensic dentistry has been used to identify dead bodies as well as compare bite marks for evidence.
Experts may soon be using this same science with the recent discovery of millionaire Steven Fossett's plain in the mountains near Mammoth.
Recently Bowers has become increasingly critical of bite mark analysis in criminal cases. Bowers attributes his criticism to failures in evidence collection such as photographing, documentation, and recognition.
"Police Officers and Investigators must learn to recognize bite marks and attempt to collect salivary DNA samples from them," says Bowers. "Through early recognition of bite marks, the evidentiary value of bite mark analysis improves.
Recently, Bowers has voiced his opinion in regards to an attempt by Dr. L. Thomas Johnson to establish a database for bite marks similar to the fingerprint database. Bowers has been quoted in recent articles describing the database as "the epitome of junk science cloaked as academic research." Bowers has based this opinion primarily on the under representation of the population and the lack of scientific validity."
Aside from his role as a forensic dentist, Bowers has served the Ventura area for over thirty years as a popular local dentist. One long time happy customer of Bowers is Camarillo resident Garland Cox, 27.
"I have been going to Dr. Bowers' office since I was a little kid," says Cox. "Painless dentist visits have been regular at his office." Cox was surprised to hear of Bowers' accomplishments. "I hadn't a clue about the role Bowers plays in the forensic world," says Cox.
In addition to the recognition by his local customers, Bowers has also been recognized by the American Board of Forensic Odontology as a diplomat due to his status as a world renowned expert in the field of bite mark analysis and forensic dentistry. Bowers has also been recognized by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors as being the longest serving Deputy Medical Examiner for the county.
YourNews contains stories posted by members of the public.
Posted by JohnLloydScharf on November 15, 2008 at 7:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
hope this form of forensics is more certain than DNA testing. That hs to be full testing, which few jurisdictions do.
Not all DNA tests are created equal.
I would like to know how the DNA sample(s) in this case were tested. Were they a CODIS/ autosomal test? YDNA test? Or mtDNA test? How many markers were used? If a mtDNA test was done, was a full genome sequencing done?
Is it a CODIS test? The CODIS system has been tested and there are perfect matches within the database of different persons.
A study of the Arizona CODIS database carried out in 2005 showed that approximately 1 in every 228 profiles in the database matched another profile in the database at nine or more loci, that approximately 1 in every 1,489 profiles matched at 10 loci, 1 in 16,374 profiles matched at 11 loci, and 1 in 32,747 matched at 12 loci.
Is it a mitochondrial DNA test which matches everyone who descended from the same maternal ancestor in the last 20 generations as THE DEFENDENT(S)?
Is it a Y Chromosome test which matches everyone who has the same paternal lineage for the past 400 years?
There may be a way to combine all of these that will resolve the identity to one person, but is what they have beyond a reasonable doubt unless they do FULL testing?
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