Stabilisation of dental structures of severely incinerated victims at disaster scenes to facilitate human identification

Fatalities due to fire events such as bushfires, domestic and industrial fires and vehicle accident related incineration, leave victims with limited prospects of being accurately identified. Due to their morphology and anatomical position teeth are uniquely protected in incineration cases and via comparison to dental records often provide the only scientifically valid means of identification. However, extreme heat and direct exposure to flame can render the teeth extremely fragile and vulnerable to damage and loss especially during collection and transportation to the mortuary. Here we highlight the advantages of forensic odontology assistance at the scene of such events and discuss techniques and protocols applied to actual cases in which these processes were used to facilitate the identification of incineration victims.