I did a double take on this myself, but this is from a paper indexed on the US Federal Bureau of Investigations -FBI website. It seems that crime scene gum can be very valuable in the investigation of a case. There can be DNA on the gum and dental impressions in the gum that can be used to build the case.
To obtain the DNA the sampling procedures may distort this malleable substance, thereby precluding accurate dental modeling. The solution laser scan the gum first to preserve the 3D shape and then convert the scan into a digital model that can be used for dental comparison
