Resumen de The teaching of denture marking methods in dental schools in the United Kingdom and the United States

Raymond Richmond, I. A. Pretty

• Forensic organizations worldwide have recommended that dental prostheses should be marked with, at a minimum, the patient’sname and preferably with further unique identifiers such as a social security number. The current study aimed to assess the denture marking practiceof dental schools within the United States and the United Kingdom. A questionnaire-based survey was employed to gain both quantitative and quali-tative data on the methods, practices, and ethos behind denture marking in 14 U.K. and 32 U.S. dental schools. One hundred percent of U.K. and87.5% of U.S. schools returned surveys and the results suggest that, for dental schools where there is no legal or legislative need for denture marking,the practice is inconsistently taught and appears to be reliant on internal forces within the school to increase awareness. Among those schools practic-ing marking, only 18% employ a technique likely to withstand common postmortem assaults; this is a concern