I have studied the available photographs of Sr. Lucia, who received apparitions from our Lady, the Virgin Mary in 1917 (in this analysis called Lucia I), as well as of the unknown person,the latter who is shown to the world as the Sr. Lucia since 1967, exactly 50 years after the Virgin Mary appeared in Fatima, Portugal, and who died in 2005 (in this analysis called Lucia II.)

The question raised is whether Lucia II is the same person as Lucia I.

As a dentist/periodontologist, I of course focused my analysis on the photographs, which show in more or less detail the upper front teeth, and adjacent gums of Lucia I, respectively Lucia II.

Images of Lucia I

B3 shows an irregular tooth row, some teeth extruded, probably due to periodontal disease, which causes a lack of tooth support, enabling the teeth to grow out. B13 shows Lucia I appearing with a regular row of nice teeth. In January, 1948, her dentist, dr. Alcino Magelhaes, proposed to Lucia I, that all teeth be removed, and a denture be made for replacement. He already removed two teeth then, which may have been the most extruded ones of the upper front. In March, 1948, two more teeth were extracted. In May, 1948, Lucia I suffered of severe inflammatory disease in her mouth, which indicates that several teeth with periodontal disease, and/or root apex inflammation, still existed in her mouth. Around that time dr. Alcino Magelhaes expressed his astonishment that not all teeth had already been removed, as was planned in January, 1948, but later he understood why. He has then finished the dental extraction treatment, and the replacement with artificial teeth. Although it is written that he ‘implanted’ artificial teeth, we must take it that he had a full acrylic denture made for Lucia I. The real implantation of artificial teeth in jaw bone, using titanium screw type “roots”, on which a dental tooth structure of metal and porcelain is built, the so-called supra-structure, was not possible in 1948.

Images of Lucia II

Comparing the upper front teeth of both Lucia I and Lucia II in the photographs 4 (of 7), and 6 (of 7) of the ‘Shape of Smile’ series, leads me to the definite conclusion that Lucia II wears an upper denture, at least at her older age. I wouldn’t be surprised that the denture Lucia II wears in these photographs is the same she has been wearing since around 1967, as shown in the photographs C7, C8, C9, C13, C15, C16, C19, D0, D0A, and D0E. The artificial teeth are unnatural short, and have no interdental contacts. The denture teeth are worn of through age. I do not believe that a new denture is made, and adapted in the mouth of Lucia II at older age, since by then, the esthetics of the denture would have been much more natural, showing longer teeth, and less acrylic ‘gums’.

Gnathological Characteristics

Although it wasn’t meant for me to say something about other aspects of the jaws of Lucia I and Lucia II, I take the freedom to do so. I am pointing at the aspect of facial profile of both women. From a comparison of the lower facial profile of Lucia I and Lucia II, at the photographs shown in the ‘Facial profile’ series, it is obvious, even for untrained persons, that the profiles are different. Lucia II shows a progeny of the lower jaw, making the profile of her lower face more concave, compared to Lucia I, who’s profile is so to say convex, her chin being more dorsally positioned with respect to the tip of the nose, even só much, that it costs her some effort to close her lips without strain of the muscles of the chin/lower lip. The latter is visible at most of the available frontal photographs of Lucia I, even at younger age. I refer to photographs A4, B2, B4, B9, B10, B11A, and B11B. However, I can’t exclude that at her middle age, the extruded upper teeth have caused at least part of the difficulty in lip closure. The atrophy of the upper front part of the dentition/alveolar bone of Lucia II could explain her concave lower facial profile in part, but still not to the extent that this atrophy would be the only responsible factor in this respect.