Air Force dentists help identify dead

Squadron Leader Alex Forrest conducts a dental examination.

THREE Air Force personnel are among ADF dentists who have helped identify victims of the Bali terrorist attack through analysis of dental records and DNA.

Because of the severity of injuries and the effects of the fire, these methods of analysis have played a major role in the identification of many victims.

Dental identification is the quickest and most efficient of the three stand-alone methods accepted by a coroner (the others being fingerprints and DNA analysis) and the only one producing immediate results.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) teams required augmentation to handle such a large disaster and the call went out for dentists trained in forensic odontology to assist.

Six of the dentists who arrived in Bali were from the military and another had previous military service. All had extensive DVI experience but few involving a disaster of such magnitude.

They included Squadron Leader Alex Forrest, Group Captain Chris Griffiths and Squadron Leader Alain Middleton, all RAAFSR officers.

Aided by three ADF interpreters and local volunteers, the AFP DVI teams established control and began the process of examining the bodies.

The structured DVI process starts with the police recording the possessions and appearance of the body. Fingerprints are taken whenever possible, then pathologists conduct a post-mortem examination and samples are taken for DNA analysis.

Finally the dentists examine the teeth, taking radiographs and photographs for possible matches with the dental records of the deceased.

After completing the dental examinations, the team began comparing the numerous records to find a match.

Attention to detail is critical, as a positive match enables the body to be released to the family for burial and progress the grieving process.

• By LTCOL Stephen Curry and
  LS Rachel Irving

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