All That Remains, a Forensic Odontology National Conference, will give dental professionals unique exposure to current forensic dentistry methods and provide hands-on training for individual and mass-disaster casualty identification in death investigations.
Beginning July 30, 2017, this week-long conference will be presented by the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine’s (UTGSM) Department of General Dentistry Division of Forensic Odontology and Human Identification.
“During the course, dental professionals will have training in real-life settings,” said Dr. Murray Marks, director of the Forensic Dentistry Fellowship and associate professor of General Dentistry at the UTGSM. “Attendees will visit a variety of settings including a courtroom, forensic anthropology laboratory, hospital laboratory, and a Regional Forensic Center Office.”
The course also includes the opportunity to perform an oral autopsy, including a jaw resection; witness a forensic autopsy; visit and archaeologically-excavate a clandestine grave; and learn to use entomological evidence for time-since-death estimation.
All That Remains will be led by forensics faculty including officers in the American Board of Forensic Odontology national organization as well as Dr. Bill Bass, a renowned forensic anthropologist who founded the original “Body Farm” in Knoxville.
This 42.5 hours dental credit hour course is a stepping stone for the American Board of Forensic Odontology credentialing examination at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences meeting. These hours are accepted by the Tennessee Board of Dentistry for re-licensure credit. Participants licensed outside of Tennessee should check with their licensing boards.
“We hope that dentists from all sectors will consider joining us for this unique, hands-on training that will prepare them to use this specialized training to aid first responders following mass disasters such as 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and more recently, the Smoky Mountain fires,” said Dr. Marks.
To learn about an AAO member’s experiences as a Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT) volunteer, click here to view an archived Bulletin feature article on Dr. Shanon Kirchhoff.
