[Forensic odontological identification of disaster victims. Experience with the disaster of the Martinair DC-10 in Faro, Portugal].
Forensic odontology plays an important, often decisive role in the identification of disaster victims. In the Dutch situation, the forensic odontologist is part of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)-team of the Dutch National Police Force. The extensive experience with forensic odontological identification of disaster victims, gained within the Dutch DVI-team is described and illustrated with reference to the identification procedure following the Martinair DC-10 aircraft crash at Faro, Portugal, december 21st, 1992. In the identification of the total of 56 victims, forensic odontology contributed in 55 cases (98.2%) to the identification; in 40 cases there were such clear agreements that identification based on forensic odontology alone would have been sufficient. The success of the forensic odontological identification method appeared to be greatly dependent of the adequate cooperation of dentists that made their treatment data available for comparison.