Bite Marks

Dr. M. Diamond

Dental Identification

• Victims– Especially from fires or

explosions– By dental records

• Suspects– Match dental

impressions to bite mark impressions

– On skin or bones

• 30 – 76 comparison factors to consider

Teeth

• Tools• Tooth mark is like a

tool mark• Chip, get worn down,

shift or be reshaped• Also

– Restorations, fillings, breakage, tooth loss, injury, etc.

– individualizes

Charting Teeth

• Each tooth assigned a number, 1 - 32– #1 = upper right third

molar– #32 = lower right third

molar

• Each tooth has 5 visible surfaces

Physical Characteristics

• Distance from cuspid to cuspid

• Shape of mouth arch• Tooth alignment• Tooth width and

thickness• Spacing between

teeth• Overbite/underbite

• Missing teeth• Curves of biting

edges• Unique dentistry• Wear patterns

– Chips– grinding

First Bite Mark Case

• Scotland, 1967• Linda Peacock, 15• Found beaten and

strangled• Clothes in disarray• Bruise on right breast• Bite mark• Showed uneven teeth

Evidence

• Witnesses had seen male and female together near crime scene

• Inmates of detention center for young men questioned

• Impressions taken of 30• Narrowed to 5• Additional impressions• Arrived at suspect

(Gordon Hay, 17)

• Pits from hypocalcination• Jagged teeth• Other evidence

– Hay had come in late the night of the murder

– Had mud on clothes– Reportedly had met victim

recently

• Convicted of murder• Bite mark evidence part

of profiling– Indicates psychological

factors