The discussion notes that improvements in preventive dental techniques have increased the number of people with intact, unrestored dentitions and the number of forensic situations in which something other than a comparison of dental restorations must be used to achieve a positive identification. The first case involved remains discovered in March 1991 in Washington that were determined to those of a female Native American Indian who had died 1-4 years before. What initially appeared to be braces turned out to be arch bars used to immobilize a jaw fracture. A review of missing person reports revealed that a 41-year-old woman had been reported missing 3 years before. Based on hospital and dental records, the skull was positively identified as the missing woman. The second case involved a partial skeleton of an adult male aged 50-70 discovered in 1984. A stainless steel wire and an old, incompletely healed fracture were noted on the mandible. A survey of local nursing homes revealed that an elderly man with a history of dementia had disappeared from a care facility a year before. Medical and dental records permitted a positive identification. These cases demonstrate the use of orofacial features apart form the internal configuration of the dentition and underscore the use of specialist consultants. Photographs and 3 references