Violent teeth: The validity and scientific basis for bite mark evidence

Bite marks have become widely used in criminal-cases in the last 10 years due to the fact that greater public attention to dental hygiene and professional dentistry record keeping has increased the number of dental x-rays used for compariSon Dental evidence is accepted in courts, but its validity and the scientific basis for its use as evidence, has been questioned. One problem is the wide variety of dental techniques described in the literature and the lack of direction from both European and American forensic dental organizations; The paper explores the history of scientific evidence, addresses the evidence standards presented in court, and discusses its acceptance as scientific evidence. It also reviews bite mark evidence, describes the different techniques being used in collecting such evidence, and discusses the validity and reliability issues surrounding it. The paper ends with a critical review of the implications of scientific evidence for future use in general, the development of new standards for recovering such evidence, and its public acceptance