FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April, 1997
CONTACT: Jann Ingmire' [email protected]
Chris Martin; [email protected]; 312/440-2806
Dentists To Learn Forensic Techniques at Hands-On Training
CHICAGO -- Dentists, dental hygienists and dental students from across
the country will learn the latest forensic techniques at a special
two-day course at the American Dental Association (ADA) Chicago
headquarters in April. The response to this workshop has been so strong
that a second workshop has been added to accommodate all who want to
attend.
The "Dental Mass Disaster Identification Training and Mock Disaster"
program will teach the dental professionals how to use forensic
techniques to make dental identification of victims of disasters and
crimes. The second day of the program will involve a mock disaster
exercise that will allow the participants to get "hands-on" experience
using the techniques they learn the first day of the training. William
M. Morlang, DDS, is the course instructor and serves as a consultant in
forensic dentistry to the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and Armed
Forces Medical Examiner.
"Dental records remain one of the fastest and most accepted ways to identify the remains of a victim, even in this day of DNA and fingerprints," according to Dr. Morlang.
Dr. Morlang will provide specimens, including x-rays, teeth, and jaws,
which will be used by the participants in the training exercise to
identify the "victims" of the mock disaster.
The participants will work in groups just as they would in a real
disaster if they were part of a dental forensic team.
Forensic dentistry plays an important role in the identification of
victims of mass disasters and crimes. Dentists have used their training
to help identify victims of numerous plane crashes, including TWA Flight
800 in New York and ValuJet Flight 592 in Florida; in mass murders such
as the Jeffrey Dahmer case in Milwaukee; and as part of the
identification team in the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma
City.
The guest speaker at the workshop will be Grady Bray, Ph.D., a
psychologist who has counseled many mass fatality workers following
their participation in a mass disaster situation.
A second session of workshops has been added because of the tremendous
interest expressed by the dental professionals. The two-day workshops
sponsored by the ADA's Council on Dental Practice will be held April 25,
26 and April 27, 28, 1997 at the American Dental Association.
###
RSS