Lewis Powell's Family

[Houmes]

(01-13-2013 12:11 PM)BettyO Wrote:  Perhaps one of our physician friends/members would like to chime in on this?!

I'd LOVE to see some clarification as well!

I'm not a dentist, but I have seen injuries like this on both living and dead patients. First, this is speculation as the photo of Mr. Powell's skull is not ideal because it's not a true anterior-posterior image. You really need to look face to face with the skull, and this one is angled slightly to the viewer's left in the image. Second, the mandible (jaw) is angled 20 degrees upward on the viewer's left side, consistent with previous fracture healing. This could explain the difference in incisor teeth not alligning with the lower mandibular teeth. Finally, there is a fracture line angled up through both eye sockets (orbits) and across the nasal bridge, which is consistent with a Le Fort II fracture. this could be from trauma while alive (i.e., falling from a horse or having a rough interrogation) or the skull was dropped years later. The Le Fort classification was determined by a French surgeon (Dr Rene Le Fort) after finding three classical injuries (Class I, II, III) when you crush a cadaver skull with a significant blow to the face or almost directly to the back of the head. The victim can end up with black eyes, often have numbness in one or both cheeks, and on exam have a "mobile face." You test for it by having them open their mouth, placing your hand in their mouth and grabbing their upper gums, and holding their head still while you pull and push. You can actually feel and see the middle of their face move in and out. Lincoln's gunshot wound produced a Class II or III Le Fort fracture.