MEDFORD, Ore. — Police say they don’t need to look at dental records often, but it can certainly help if other options are ruled out.
They say personal belongings like a drivers license or credit card can shed light on who the person was.
When fingerprints don’t help, police look at dental records.
“Teeth are really the identifiers and most people have 28 to 32 teeth in their mouth which gives us a lot to work with,” said Victoria Nguyen, a dentist at Crater Lake Dental. “But when there are no teeth or only bits and fragments, it’s a lot harder.”
Investigators often look for identifiers like crowns, root canals, or fillings which all make a person stand out.
But when dental records don’t work, police can send off the person’s DNA off to a lab; they say getting the results can take 6 to 8 months.
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