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aviat ion disasters. The identi f icat ion is essential
f rom both of the humanitarian and the rel igious
points of view a s w ell a s for judicial r easons.1
Dental evidences are one of the most widely
used t ools in forensic identificat ions (besides Finger
printing and DNA profiling) having some obvious
advantages: a low cost , human teeth are the best
preserved body par ts due to the i r hardness and
resista nce to corrosion, ma king them ideal in ma ss
disasters, terrorist at tacks, wars, etc. Past dental
records are often available, dental characteristics
a re unique t o each individual (even genetic identica l
tw ins ha ve different odont ological profiles).2-4In the
last years dental implants were increasingly more
of ten used, making th em an importa nt addit ion to
dental identification, especially as there are cases
w h e r e d e n t i t i o n i s e n t i r e l y c o n s t r u c
t e d f r o m
implants.
A. Dental Implants : Their Physical
Characteristic as an aid in identification
As implants are mass produced they lack the
individuality of ha nd craft ed restora tions, but t heir
physica l proper t ies o f corros ion res is tance and
extremely high meltin g point 6a nd7thu s could a ssist
in t he identificat ion of victims w here there is la cko f o t
h e r s c i e n t i f i c e v i d e n c e s u c h a s D N A o r
fingerprints.8 In situations of extreme heat, i t has
been seen tha t t he crown of the t ooth deta ches from
the roo t , probably due to the anatomy o f tee th
allowing central vaporization of the pulp tissue. 5
C o n v e n t i o n a l d e n t a l f i l l i n g m a t e r i a
l s s u c h a s
amalgam, composite resin and gold may melt or
d i s to r t .5,9,10 As commercia l ly pure t i t an ium and
tita nium alloy denta l implant s have a melting point
greater than 1650 C 11 the likelihood of implants
surviving thermal insult is high, providing some
weight of evidence to the identification of victims.
B. Dental I mplants : Radiographic
recognition for human identification
I n c r e a s e d p a t i e n t m o b i l i t y , a n d t h e l
a r g e
number of implant s systems w ith different designs,
h a s d e t e r m i n e d t h e n e e d f o r a r a d i o g r a
p h i c
c a t a l o g u e o f d e n t a l i m p l a n t i m a g e s .
12,13
U nfortuna tely, it is ra ther diff icult t o keep up with
the continuous development of new implants. The
identification of old and new dental implants can
become a problem for the dentist t reat ing a pat ient
with no dental records avai lable and also for the
f o r e n s i c o d o n t o l o g i s t w h i l e a t t e m p t
i n g t h e
identification of an unknown cadaver. 14
Forensic dental identification is based on the
morphological comparison and matching of dental
records, mainly ava ilable as ra diogra phic images.15,16
P ostmortem denta l records are compa red with a nte-
m o r te m re co rds p e r t a i n i n g to so m e p re su m e
d
identity.16How ever, if no previous pa pers a re found
identification ma y be d ifficult.
Mo rp h o l o g i ca l f e a tu re s o f de n t a l i m p l an t
s
depicted on radiographs may be used to develop a
d e n t a l p r o f i l e o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l a n d p
r o v i d einforma tion tha t can nar row the search to a sma
ller
n u m b e r o f i n d i v i d u a l s , o r e l i m i n a t e c
e r t a i n
candida tes by taking into account the denta l system
e m p l o y e d . 17-19 T h e m a t c h i n g o f t w o s e t s
o f
r a d i o g r a p h s i s p e r f o r m e d w i t h p o s t m o
r t e m
periapical X-ray of the implants against the dental
implants images of the various implant systems
stored in the archive. Some implant systems have
peculiar chara cterist ics ma king recognit ion easy ,
but others which share very similar char a cteristics,
require the an a lysis of f ine structures.
C. Dental Implant restorative material : Role
in identification
Implant placed restora tion as classified in screw
retained and cement retained. 20Even t hough screw
r e t a i n e d i m pl a n t s a r e a s s o ci a t e d w i t h
a l ow e r
prevalence o f per i- implant d iseases , nowadays
cement r eta ined ones ar e the most frequent due to
improved aes the t ics and lack o f screw-re ta ined
i m p l a n t p r o b l e m s ( s c r e w l o o s e n i n g , i
m p l a n t
a n n u l a t i o n s , p a s s i v e f i t , l a c k o f s c r
e w h o l e s )
resulting in a diminished number of fra ctures, easiera ccess in
th e posterior part of the mouth, increa sed
co s t , i n c re ase d co m p l e x i t y o f co m p o n e n t
s an d
labora tory procedures,21 more prone to fractures,22
etc.
There are many types of dental cements used
in implan tology, some being implan ts pecific. Denta l
cements are classified according to their physical
properties, material, purpose (interim, prosivional,
d e f in i t i v e ), u n i q u e c h a r a c t e r i s t i cs (
a n t i ca r i e s
a ctivity, ionexcha nge, tooth a dhesion), a nd implan t
D enta l Impla nts: A Forensic P erspect ive Feroz Sha ffi, et ,
a l.
Indian J Dent Adv 2012; 4(4): 981-983
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speci f ic proper t ies ( re t r ievabi l i ty , adherence
to
m e t a l a b u t m e n t s , e a s e o f r e m o v a l o f e x
c e s s
cement).20
As with the implants, restoration cements are
useful in identificat ion thr oughout their ra diological
and chemical characterist ics. By determining the
restorative material radio density one can suggest
th a t a specific type/class of resin/cement w a s used
a n d s u b s e q u en t l y b r i n g a n a d d i t i on a l l
a y e r o f
evidence in dental identification.
CONCLUSION :
In t he huma n identifica tion process of unknown
v i c t i m s w i t h n o d e n t a l r e c o r d s a v a i l a
b l e , t h e
recognition of dental implants detected may give
auxi l i ary in format ion to narrow the search to a
sma ller num ber of individuals or eliminat e certa in
candida tes altogether. Although denta l implants a re
widely used in clinical practice, their medical-legal
u se f u l n e ss i s so m e h o w l i m i te d , m o s t l y du
e to
insufficient da ta to compa re the obta ined results In
p e r f o r m i n g t h e f o r e n s i c e v a l u a t i o n a
n d
superimposit ion, forensic odontologists must be
famil iar with implant designs a nd implant therapy.
A worldwide database, with open access to dental
information, including dental implant and cementi n f o rm at i
o n i s th e re f o re a n e ce ss i t y f o r be t t e r
odontological identification.
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