Computer comparison of bitemark patterns in identical twins.

Individual dental patterns have been explored by direct comparison of test bites from several sets of young adult monozygotic twins. For this purpose, epoxy models from the dentition of each twin were used for experimental tooth indentations and converted to radiographic contact profiles. These sharply outlined radiographic bitemark patterns were then subjected to a computerized comparison, involving electronic storage and correlations. Despite similar developmental morphology of individual teeth, there were significant variations between the twins in each pair with respect to the individual arrangements of the anterior teeth in the dental arch; the teeth had distinctly different rotations, sometimes reflecting a mirror image of the twin-pair bitemark patterns. Thus, the computer comparison made it clear that in terms of occlusal arch form and individual tooth positions, even so-called identical twins are in fact not dentally identical.