NCJ Number
229283
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 54 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2009 Pages: 1407-1410
Date Published
November 2009
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Since forensic organizations worldwide have recommended types of identifying marks for dental prostheses, the current study assessed the denture-marking practices of dental schools in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Abstract
The study found that the teaching of denture marking in both British and American dental schools is sporadic in jurisdictions where denture marking is not made mandatory; and in such schools, the practice is inconsistently taught and is apparently dependent on internal influences within the school. Among those schools that teach marking, only 18 percent use a technique likely to withstand common postmortem degradation processes. Since denture marking is a simple and cost-effective means of identifying unknown deceased victims, further work is required within dental education in order to ensure that both student dentists and student dental technologists are exposed to denture marking methodologies. This can ensure that they are prepared to offer patients an esthetically suitable marking system that is resilient to common postmortem degradation. The results of the current study indicate that increased international collaboration is needed in order to provide guidelines and/or standards for denture marking. A questionnaire-based survey was used to obtain both quantitative and qualitative data on the methods, practices, and ethos underlying denture marking in 14 British and 32 American dental schools. All of the British schools and 87.5 percent of American schools returned surveys. 1 table, 1 figure, and 28 references