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Forensic Odontology: Teeth and Their Secrets

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The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice

Abstract

Forensic odontologists are dentists who have special skills in the areas of clinical dentistry, forensic medicine, and police investigation. They analyze any dental evidence, make forensic conclusions, and testify in court to support their conclusions. Forensic odontologists play an essential role in identifying either victims of disasters or victims and suspects of individual crimes. Forensic odontologists often have the chance to supply the crucial missing piece of a criminal or forensic puzzle that has eluded others.

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Acknowledgments

I wish to kindly acknowledge my teachers in clinical dentistry and forensic odontology, especially Dr. Edvitar Leibur of the Faculty of Stomatology, Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Tartu, Estonia and Dr. Helena Ranta of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki, Finland. I also thank Dr. Antti Penttila, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Forensic Medicine at the University of Helsinki, who taught forensic pathology, Dr. Tarja Formisto, and Dr. Irena Dawidson (both of Sweden). I acknowledge and thank the Estonian DVI team and its team leader, the Director General of the Estonian Police, Mr. Robert Andropov. I thank the Danish DVI team for inviting me to participate in the Milan SAS crash disaster. My work has been supported in part by grants from the University of Tartu and the University of Helsinki Center for International Mobility. I also wish to thank my husband, Michael J. Lincoln, MD, for his continual support and proofreading.

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Correspondence to Helena Soomer Lincoln DDS, PhD .

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Lincoln, H.S. (2011). Forensic Odontology: Teeth and Their Secrets. In: Mozayani, A., Noziglia, C. (eds) The Forensic Laboratory Handbook Procedures and Practice. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-872-0_10

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