Western Articulator Edition Three, 2022

Page 30

CALL-OUT FOR DENTAL RECORDS FOR THE NATIONAL DNA PROGRAM FOR UNIDENTIFIED AND MISSING PERSONS Australian dentists are being asked to go through their records to help provide closure for families of long-term missing persons.

You’ll likely be familiar with the ADAWA emails requesting dental records. These emails are highly successful, and usually quickly find dental records required for local, contemporary deaths. Now, dentists are being asked to go through their records to help provide closure for families of long-term missing persons nationally.

There are approximately 500 unidentified human remains and 2,600 long-term missing persons in Australia. In July 2020, the Australian Federal Police’s National Missing Persons Coordination Centre launched the National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons, with the aim of identifying unidentified human remains, and solving long-term missing-persons cases. We spoke to two members of the forensic odontology team who work with Missing Persons in investigating dental data that has been received: Dr Helen Vaughan and Dr Jenny Ball.

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EDITION 3 | 2022 WESTERN ARTICULATOR


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Western Articulator Edition Three, 2022 by adawa.com.au - Issuu