Digital analysis of bite marks and human identification

This article introduces the dental investigator to the basic concepts of digital imaging techniques as they apply to crime scene photographic evidence. In all aspects of forensic dentistry, analytical comparison methods demand rigorous attention to scale dimensions and the detection of photographic distortion in images of forensic interest. Dental radiographs, photographic slides, negatives, prints, and digital images are all amenable to digital techniques that are useful in controlling quality and expanding the abilities of the forensic dentist to compare known and questioned evidence. The intent of this article is to show accurate means of measuring physical parameters of dental evidence, correction of common photographic distortion and size discrepancies, elimination of examiner subjectivity, better control of image visualization, and standardization of comparison procedures.