ABSTRACT
Photography and salivary swabbing precede impression taking in the bitemark protocol. Normally the body would be cleaned of contaminants such as sand, soil, and blood prior to the third/fourth set of photographs (crime scene, at the morgue prior to autopsy, undressed, cleaned) and impression taking. The bitemark impression should therefore contain no contaminants. On the other hand, there might be trace residual DNA present in the bitemark impression, which might be transferred to the stone model. Odontologists should be mindful of this possibility.
