12 July 2023

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The good and bad legacies of forensic odontology

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In this commentary published May 15, 2023 in the Journal of the California Dental Association, Dr. C. Michael Bowers writes that modern science is based on the acknowledgment of change and adaptation of beliefs and methods, generated by vigorous periods of discovery.

Forensic science and dental science are no exception. Nearly a quarter of the 3,345 of those exonerated in the U.S. since 1989 were wrongfully convicted based on false or misleading forensic science. This includes bitemark comparison “identification.” This paper is a brief look into how bitemark comparisons contributed to 34 of these miscarriages of justice and, due to compelling research and legal analysis, they have now been debunked via numerous scientific reviewing agencies and legal authorities in the U.S.

Bowers is an adjunct assistant professor of clinical dentistry at the Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry at the University of Southern California. He described his paper a short narrative regarding his experiences as a court-approved forensic odontologist since the mid-1980s.

"Most of this is autobiographical and therefore will not contain myriad citations of bitemark and legal literature," he wrote. "I will leave that to other contributors in this series of articles about forensic dentistry bitemark comparison practices."

Bowers said he attempts to describe the process he experienced during his formative years and in the following decades listening and communicating with other dentists who were peers, betters, mentors, many of whom were seasoned witnesses in criminal courts, who were mostly as prosecution-hired experts.

C. Michael Bowers (2023) "The Good and Bad Legacies of Forensic Odontology," Journal of the California Dental Association, 51:1, DOI: 10.1080/19424396.2023.2210331.