The Need for a Complete Dental Autopsy of Unidentified Edentulous Human Remains

Learning Overview: After attending this presentation, attendees will understand the need for the application of best practices when conducting the identification of missing and unidentified human remains. The scientific literature in the field of human identification highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach when conducting a human identification process, including a dental autopsy. Impact on the Forensic Science Community: This presentation will impact the forensic science community by providing the results of an identification casework in which the dental autopsy and dental radiology were beneficial in the postmortem data collection, even in an edentulous individual, for the purpose of narrowing the search of reported missing persons in that geographical area and to establish identity. In Abruzzo, one of the 20 regions of Italy with a total of more than 1.3 million inhabitants, there are, to date, 505 reported missing persons and 6 unidentified human remains as highlighted by the June 2018 official report of the Italian Ministry of the Interior.