Volume 7 • 2020 • Issue 7

Coordinating and delegating these tasks and the personnel was the responsibility of the team leader. “It was as though all tasks had to be done at once because one could not predict if an antemortem record was in the database by the time a postmortem specimen arrived,” says Dr. Dorion. “Working 12‑hour days, six days per week was stressful, exhausting, but extremely rewarding. It presented closure for families when an identification was confirmed.” As team leader, Dr. Dorion presented odontology identification results daily together with other team leaders such as the pathologists and the DNA experts. The results were tabulated and discussed. The coroner announced the identification results to the respective families, followed by the media. The peculiarity of this disaster centered around the postmortem remains that were, in many cases, reduced to fragments of jaws devoid of teeth because of the intensity and duration of the fire. Identification was made from trabecular patterns of the jaws rather than the morphology of teeth and fillings. The task was so challenging that when an identification was made, there was a collective sense of relief. All dental identifications were double-checked by the team leader before presenting it to the identification panel the following morning. A year after the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, Dr. Desranleau andDr. Denis Forest, past director of the Journées dentaires internationales du Québec (JDIQ), organized a fundraising event for the Lac-Mégantic community during the JDIQ proceedings. With the support of the Order of Quebec Dentists (ODQ) and many generous participants, the organizers managed to raise $20,000, which was donated to the Red Cross to help the victims of the tragedy. Forensic Odontology in Quebec Dr. Robert Dorion knew that his eventual retirement would require educated, trained and experienced forensic dentists as successors. In 2004, he launched a new, online forensic dentistry course in conjunction with McGill University. The 13-month course consists of five modules: identification, mass disaster management, bitemark evidence, and two hands-on courses at the LSJML. Thirty-one dentists have completed the course, and an additional eight are currently in training. Between 2004 and 2013, four McGill forensic dentistry graduates were admitted as residents in forensic odontology to the forensic lab. By July 2013, they were fully educated and trained with practical experience that served them both in the Lac‑Mégantic and the Isle-Verte* disasters. Sylvain Desranleau, DMD, D-ABFO is a board certified forensic odontologist and assistant syndic at the ODQ. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Odontology. Robert B. J. Dorion, DDS, FACD, FADQ, D-ABFO is a board certified forensic odontologist. He is a founding member and past president of the American Board of Forensic Odontology and director of the Forensic Dentistry Program, Faculty of Dentistry, Continuing Education, McGill University. He is past president of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science and past vice-president of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Sylvain Laforte, DMD is a general dentist in a group practice in Verdun, Quebec, and a forensic odontologist. He is a member of the Disciplinary Council of the ODQ and a Fellow of the American College of Dentists. André Ruest, DMD, Cert Ortho is an orthodontist and a forensic odontologist. * On the night of January 23, 2014, a fire took place at a seniors’ home in Isle-Verte, Québec, near Rivière-du-Loup. Thirty-two residents were killed in the fire. I ssues and P eople 29 Issue 7 | 2020 |