Few Relatives Come Forward With Dental Records

Few relatives come forward with dental records

BANGKOK: -- Dental volunteers working to help identify victims of last month's tsunamis have gained dental evidence from 1,200 corpses, but only 100 relatives have come forward with dental records, the president of the Dental Council revealed today.

Since 30 December, over 450 volunteer dentists and 200 dental assistants have been helping forensic experts at the temporary morgue in Wat Yanyao in Thailand's southern resort province of Phuket to identify the thousands of victims killed when the massive waves slammed into the country's Andaman coastline on 26 December.

According to Lt. Gen. Phisan Thepsitha, the volunteers have now x-rayed the teeth of 1,200 corpses.

However, he admitted that only 10 bodies had so far been identified using dental records, as very few relatives appeared aware of the fact that dental records could be used as an accurate means of identification.

"There hasn't been enough publicity about this", he conceded.

"As a result only around 100 people have come forward with dental records", he said.

Evidence is now being sent to dental hospitals and clinics across the country to try to determine the identity of the remaining bodies.

Although corpses are being sent to China for DNA testing, the process is time-consuming and expensive when compared with simple dental checks.

Dentists are now calling for the general public to ensure that their dental records, including x-rays, are kept on file, for ease of identification in the future.

--TNA 2005-01-21