[Analysis of bite marks].

Abstract

Precise photographs, supplemented by impressions are used to research and compare bite marks. Different materials for impressions are available to the forensic odontologist. Subsequently, the acquired information of the bite mark will be compared with the dentition of a suspect through photographs, intra- and extra oral examination and impressions. The overlay, which can be created using a variety of methods, allows the comparison between the bite mark and the dentition of the suspect. Among the most commonly used are hand-tracing of study models, wax bites or photocopies, or the radio-opaque wax bite method. Thanks to modern technology and the use of computers, analyses of bite marks have gradually become more accurate. Current research carried out at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven will demonstrate whether the computer program ForensicIQ is able to offer an even more precise comparison between a given bite mark and the dentition of a suspect. By no means should bite mark analysis alone be allowed to lead to a guilty verdict, but it will offer the opportunity to exclude a suspect from a crime when the data do not correspond.