Bite Marks
In life or death situations, teeth are often used as a weapon. The teeth are part of our natural arsenal.
There is no current agreement between odontologists about the uniqueness of the dentition or how the skin behaves while being bitten. The sizes, shapes, and pattern of the biting edges of the anterior teeth are thought to be specific to that person. This is caused when your canines force their way into your dental arch. the resulting configuration of your teeth produces and identifiable pattern. This pattern can then be compared to either dental records or other bite marks.
The degree of detail on the bitten surface varies from case to case. In cases where there is plenty of details, it may be possible to identify the biter and exclude all other suspects.
Typical Presentation Of Bite mark Injuries
Human bite marks are most often found on the skin of victims. A human bite is described as an eliptical or circular injury that records the specific characteristics of the teeth. Bite marks with high evidence value that can be used in comparisons with the suspects' teeth will include marks from specific teeth that record distinct traits. It is important to have individual characteristics in the bite mark to be able to identify the perpetrator. Use, misuse, and abuse of the teeth result in features that are referred to as accidental or individual traits. These traits include fractures, rotations, attritional wear, congenital malformations etc. If these traits are not present in the teeth or are not recorded well in the bite mark, the forensic significance of the bite mark is reduced.
The injuries caused by biting can range from bruises to scrapes and cuts or lacerations.If it has been a long time between when the injury occurred and when it was discovered, the nature of bruises and the change of the injury over time may further reduce the evidentiary value.
It is very important that during initial examination of the injury to be certain that something else, such as emergency equipment, did not cause the pattern or that something other than teeth has caused the circular injury. It could be determined through lack of characteristics caused by human teeth.