Amalgam tattoo as a means for person identification.

Person identification from the teeth depends on establishing a number of points of correspondence between ante- and postmortem dental data, but a single characteristic, if unique enough, may be sufficient. The use of amalgam tattoos in establishing identity has not been reported in the literature. Two cases in which amalgam tattoos were used in conjunction with other dental data to establish identity are reported. Ante- and postmortem radiographs showed the presence of amalgam within the adjacent alveolar bone and periapical tissues, respectively. Attempts were made to duplicate the angulation of the original antemortem radiographs so that a direct comparison could be made of the amalgam fragments. The antemortem radiographs date from 1984 and 1985 in the two respective cases. In both instances the pattern of amalgam remained fairly similar, differences being ascribed to angulation which could not be reproduced exactly. From these results it seems that amalgam tattoo may be a reliable method of identification, even though a number of years may have elapsed since the ante- and postmortem radiographs were taken. The pattern of amalgam dispersal may be sufficiently unique so that identity can be established using this single characteristic.