Forensic Odontologists Finally Begin to Take First Steps to Introduce Science into their Field

In the wake of the (US) National Academy of Sciences report on the state of forensics in the US, the field of “forensic odontology” is apparently responding.  Forensic odontology can be classified as one of the most questionable of forensic disciplines, and it certainly can’t be called a “science”.

Some responsible odontologists have undertaken to actually do systematic statistical studies of the effects of the elasticity of human skin on the ability to identify bite marks.  Here is a link to the abstract of a first-of-a-kind study:

http://www.fsijournal.org/article/S0379-0738(11)00158-7/abstract

The principal author is Prof. Mary Bush of the University of Buffalo, who has been a pioneer in bringing the disciplines of science to forensic odontology.

This is a good first step, but they have a long, long way to go.