Detective Dentist: Using Teeth to Solve Mysteries

Forensic Odontologists are rare in today’s society, but play an important role in identifying human remains using dental records.

One man in Great Falls does just that, and is unique to Montana.

Doctor David Johnson has been working with teeth for over 40 years. He started by identifying fallen soldiers during his time in the military. Now, he works on several different cases around Montana.

“Generally what happens is I will get a box from the state crime lab, or from a county coroner, and in it will be some dental remains,” Doctor Johnson said.

From there, he has to sign a chain of evidence letter describing what he received. Doctor Johnson takes an x-ray of the remains and then compares them to dental records of missing people.

“When we identify human remains, we actually look at the shape of the pulp chambers, and we look at the shape of the filling.”

Teeth are unique to each individual and are relatively resistant to destructive forces, said Doctor Johnson.

“You compare that with the ante mortem, and you don’t need a lot of teeth to make the identification, you just need to have certain points of uniqueness to compare it to,” Johnson said.

Doctor Johnson has worked on several noteworthy cases, including the disappearance of 20-year-old Rudy Redd Victor in the early 1980’s. Victor was on military leave at the time, and never returned.

“In 1982, a livestock inspector was up outside of Wolf Creek Canyon, and discovered a human skull,” Evidence Technician Brittany Hogan said. “He holds onto it for two years. In 1984, our previous coroner finds out about that, contacts this particular individual, says bring it in to the Coroner’s Office, and from there they started a whole investigation with the Sheriff’s Office.”

The remains were sent to Doctor Johnson, who examined the remains. At the time, there wasn’t a positive match, however years later, thanks to a national registry, he was able to make a positive ID and provide closure to the family.

“It takes a certain person to want to do it,” Hogan added. “You have to have that drive to name the unidentified. Give them their names and give them their life back in a way.”