Bite mark: Is it still valid??

Abstract

Bite mark evidence has been introduced in trials all over the country. Bite mark evidence, an aspect of forensic odontology, is the process by which odontologist's (dentists) attempt to match marks found at crime scenes with the dental impressions of suspects. If a victim is bitten by a perpetrator during a crime and police have a suspect, odontologists can attempt to “match” the bite mark to the suspect's teeth. There have been a lot of controversies in the identification of bite mark analysis in the past 15 years and acceptance by the law. While this review aims to explain the increasing number of wrongful convictions that is associated and related to the past with bite mark analyses and this has resulted in intense scientific and legal scrutiny. This article contains the current status and position of bite mark analysis. It explains about the highlights and drawback of bite mark identification and law's evaluating and responding to unreliable and unscientific evidence.