Putting Teeth Into Forensic Science

ScienceDaily (May 19, 2010)  In a large natural disaster, such as
the Haitian earthquake earlier this year,
or in an unsolved homicide case, knowing
the birth date of an individual can guide
forensic investigators to the correct
identity among a large number of possible
victims.

Livermore researcher Bruce Buchholz and
colleagues at the Karolinska Institute
are looking at victim's teeth
to determine how old they are
at the time of death.

Using the Lawrence Livermore's Center
for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Buchholz
determined that the radioactive carbon-14
produced by above-ground nuclear
testing in the 1950s and 1960s remains
in the dental enamel, the hardest substance
in the body. The radiocarbon analysis showed
that dating the teeth with the carbon-14
method would estimate the birth date within
one year.

Age determination of unknown human bodies
is important in the setting of a crime
investigation or a mass disaster, because
the age at death, birth date, and year of
death, as well as gender, can guide
investigators to the correct identity
among a large number of possible matches.


Can dentistry solve crimes?

Forensic dental books

American academy of forensic sciences

National association of Medical examiners

Forensic dentistry online

Bold Lab

British Association of Forensic Odontology

International Association for identification

Win ID

AFIP

American Board of Forensic Odontology

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY - AGE DETERMINATION

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY

Forensic Odontology

FORENSIC ODONTOLOGY/DENTISTRY - REFERENCE LIST

AMERICAN BOARD of FORENSIC  ODONTOLOGY, INC.  BACKGROUND, FUNCTIONS &

Member Societies

UTHSCSA Dental Diagnostic Science: Certificate Program

Forensic (Dentistry)

American Society of Forensic Odontology

KAROLINSKA INSTITUTET - Department of Forensic Odontology, Dental School