A 2-year old deceased boy was referred for forensic odontology examination and investigation by the forensic pathologist in-charge of the case in regards to an alleged bitemark injury over the upper right arm on Jun 2010. Subsequent examination and analysis confirmed that the injury which consisted of two sets of similar-looking bruises was indeed two overlapping adult human bitemark.
METHOD: Bitemark analysis and comparison was done with the alleged biter, who was the boyfriend of the mother using Adobe Photoshop® overlay method.
RESULT: The computer generated overlay using Adobe Photoshop® showed no inconsistent discrepancies between the alleged biter's teeth and the bitemark on the deceased toddler. The empty space within the bitemark injuries coincide well to the infra-occluded lower left central incisor of the suspect. The mandibular inter-canine distance of both bitemark injury and the suspect were also comparable. Therefore, it was concluded that the bitemark injuries on the deceased toddler was almost certainly done by the suspect.
CONCLUSION: This case was brought to court in November 2011 and the forensic odontologist was called to testify on the bitemark evidence. The suspect was later convicted of the child abuse charges leading to death by the judge in March 2012 after considering the presence of bitemark injuries found on the body and also multiple bruises on the head. This case served as the turning point of bitemark evidence being admissible in the Malaysia court of law in which the evidence was handled by the a trained forensic odontologist right from the start when the deceased was first brought in by the police to the mortuary.