Mortuos suspice, Vivos sustine - Respect the dead, Support the living
About us
FORT BC SOCIETY is a volunteer group of forensic dentists, allied dental personnel and other forensic specialists. The Society is dedicated to providing forensic odontology training and services for the identification of human remains and to remain prepared to assist in a Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) response to a mass fatality incident. Members continually assist the British Columbia Coroners Service on forensic identification cases. Society members also manage a provincial dental database of missing and unidentified persons (MUPS) to assist the BC Coroners Service and police agencies in solving cold case missing persons files. The Society provides both training and lectures on forensic dentistry for dental continuing education as well as military essential DVI training for international military dental personnel. Members of the Society are also available to provide other forensic dental services including Dental Age Assessment (DAA) and bitemark analysis and comparison. The Society is primarily composed of members from British Columbia, Canada.
2022 FORT BC Society team members
2024 FORT BC Society DVI Training
History
The Society was originally formed in the late 1990's as the British Columbia Forensic Odontology Response Team (BC-FORT) with the objective to provide forensic training and expertise to a core group of forensic dental specialists who would be prepared and ready to respond to a Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) response.
2001 Dr David Sweet O.C., Dr Tom Routledge and Dr. Jim Severs
The Society (as BC-FORT) worked closely with the Bureau of Legal Dentistry (BOLD) Lab at the University of British Columbia. Dr. David Sweet O.C. was the Director of BOLD Lab and one of the founding members of BC-FORT.
In May 2022, the Society was formed. Since its inception, BC-FORT (now FORT BC SOCIETY) has trained hundreds of civilian and military dental personnel from around the world.
Casework - Thailand
In 2005, BC-FORT members were deployed to Thailand as members of the Canadian forensic team that assisted INTERPOL in the DVI response following the Asian tsunami.
Forensic specialists from over 30 countries participated in the effort to assist in the identification of over 5,000 people who died in Thailand during the tsunami.
Casework - Domestic
Members of the Society have provided forensic dental expertise in hundreds of identification cases for the BC Coroners Service.
Since 2009, the Society has managed the MUPS dental database and assisted in solving several cold missing persons cases.