Bones in the wall of a bar in Bergamo: teeth can help restore an identity
The discovery of human remains during renovations at a Bergamo property has brought attention to a little-known area of dentistry: personal identification through teeth, X-rays, and dental records.
A skull with several teeth and a long bone hidden inside an old wall.
This is what emerged during renovations of the former Crystal bar in Borgo Santa Caterina, Bergamo , transforming a construction project into a scientific investigation into the possible identity of a person who lived many years ago.
According to press reports, the remains belong to an adult, but the sex, identity, and time of death are still unknown. Specialists from LABANOF – the Laboratory of Anthropology and Forensic Odontology at the University of Milan , directed by Professor Cristina Cattaneo , are working on the case .
The investigations will first help establish the age of the finds. Radiocarbon dating will take several weeks.
But the very presence of the skull and several teeth draws attention to one of the methods used in human identification: forensic odontology .
«Teeth are crucial in the identification process»
” Teeth are crucial in the identification process ,” emphasizes Professor Emilio Nuzzolese, forensic dentist and head of the Personal Identification and Forensic Odontology Research Laboratory , which also carries out pro bono work for the families of missing persons.
The reason lies in the very characteristics of the dental system. Teeth are among the most resistant structures in the human body and can survive even when other tissues are severely damaged. But their identifying value depends not only on their resistance. Fillings, crowns, bridges, implants, root canal treatments, missing teeth, anomalies, anatomical characteristics, and the position of teeth constitute dental evidence that, considered as a whole, can have a highly individualizing value.
Dental information and dental evidence: an important distinction
In the identification process, it is useful to distinguish between dental information and dental evidence .
Dental information includes anything produced and recorded as part of dental care: medical records, odontograms, x-rays, intraoral photographs, digital scans, models, treatment descriptions, and other health documentation.
Dental evidence, on the other hand, has a broader meaning. It may also arise from sources that were not originally produced for health or identification purposes.
“When trying to identify a person, we shouldn’t just think about the dental record,” Nuzzolese specifies . “Both the dental information and available dental evidence are crucial. A photograph, a portrait showing the teeth, a smiling selfie, or an old X-ray can contain useful elements for comparison.”
This means that, especially when a dental record is not available, the search for antemortem data can be extended to other sources.
Even a selfie can become ante-mortem data
In the age of smartphones and social media, there is a wealth of personal images unavailable to previous generations.
A selfie in which the teeth are clearly visible , a family photograph, a portrait, images taken during a ceremony, or other photographic documents can reveal observable dental characteristics: missing teeth, diastemas, rotations, crowding, shape and position of anterior teeth, unusual visible restorations, or other smile features.
These images are not automatically equivalent to a dental record or a diagnostic X-ray, and their value must be scientifically assessed on a case-by-case basis. However, they can provide very useful complementary evidence , especially when clinical documentation is scarce or no longer available.
Even an old X-ray has particular value: in addition to documenting characteristics that are not externally visible, it allows us to place those dental conditions with certainty at a specific time in the person’s life.
It’s not enough to find teeth: you need to build the comparison
When unidentified human remains are discovered, the forensic odontologist conducts a systematic examination of the dental structures and collects postmortem data .
The next challenge is to identify a possible identity and obtain antemortem material to compare them with.
The comparison may include: existing and missing teeth, restorations and fillings, crowns, bridges and implants, root canal treatments, root shape, position, inclination, rotation or crowding of teeth, anatomical features visible on radiographs, anomalies and special treatments, and dental features recognizable in photographs, portraits and selfies.
The concordance of multiple characteristics is evaluated within a scientific and multidisciplinary process that may involve forensic odontology, anthropology, genetics, and forensic medicine.
Antemortem research goes beyond the dental office
This perspective also changes the way we approach the search for information on a missing person. Identifying the dentist who treated them remains extremely important, as it can allow us to recover valuable clinical and radiological records. But the search shouldn’t necessarily end if that documentation is no longer available.
Family members and loved ones can contribute by locating old, dated X-rays, personal photographs, portraits, and digital images in which a smile is visible . Phones, computers, family photo archives, and digital accounts, when legitimately accessible by authorities or their rights holders, may also contain potentially useful material.
“The goal is to reconstruct the best possible antemortem dental profile using all available reliable sources,” observes Nuzzolese . “Clinical documentation remains essential, but it is not the only source of information.”
Missing Persons: When Forensic Odontology Becomes a Humanitarian Aid
Identification isn’t just a technical or investigative challenge. Behind an unnamed person may be a family that has been waiting for years to find out what happened to a loved one.
The LIPOF – Research Laboratory in Personal Identification and Forensic Odontology directed by Nuzzolese also carries out pro bono activities for the families of missing persons , contributing to the research, collection and valorization of dental information and dental evidence potentially useful in identification processes.
“Identifying a person certainly means applying a scientific method, but it also means restoring the deceased’s identity and dignity and, when possible, providing an answer to a family that continues to wait,” Nuzzolese emphasizes . “This is one of the humanitarian dimensions of forensic odontology.”
The Bergamo case: answers are yet to arrive
It’s still too early to draw any conclusions regarding the remains found in the wall of the former bar in Borgo Santa Caterina. Specialists will need to study the finds, help reconstruct their biological profile, and determine their age. At the same time, investigations will be able to reconstruct the history of the building and the people who frequented or used the premises over time.
The presence of the remains inside a wall alone does not allow us to determine when or why they were placed there. Scientific and investigative investigations will provide answers.
An identity can remain written in the teeth
We’re used to thinking about teeth in relation to chewing, prevention, pain, or the aesthetics of a smile. Forensic odontology reveals a very different dimension of the same anatomy.
A filling, a crown, a root canal, an implant, the particular shape of a root, or the arrangement of teeth can outlive a person. And on the other side of the comparison could be a dental record, an X-ray from many years ago, or, in certain circumstances, even a photograph or selfie.
The mystery surrounding the remains discovered in Bergamo remains unsolved. But the presence of teeth in the skull found in the wall is reminiscent of something forensic dentistry knows well: not only dental information stored in medical records is crucial in the identification process. All the reliable dental evidence a person has left behind over the course of their life can also be crucial.
