Affiliations 

  • 1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia; Department of Oro-Maxillofacial Surgical and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia. Electronic address: rabiahadaw@um.edu.my
  • 2 Faculty of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia. Electronic address: melissa.humphries@adelaide.edu.au
  • 3 Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5006, Australia. Electronic address: jeremy.austin@adelaide.edu.au
  • 4 College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia 5042, Australia. Electronic address: adrian.linacre@flinders.edu.au
  • 5 CSIRO, Land and Water, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia. Electronic address: Mark.Raven@csiro.au
  • 6 CSIRO, Land and Water, Locked Bag 2, Glen Osmond, South Australia 5064, Australia. Electronic address: Peter.Self@csiro.au
Forensic Sci Int, 2020 May;310:110236.
PMID: 32172179 DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110236

Abstract

Heat alters colour and crystallinity of teeth by destruction of the organic content and inducing hydroxyapatite crystal growth. The colour and crystallite changes can be quantified using spectrophotometric and x-ray diffraction analyses, however these analyses are not commonly used in combination to evaluate burned dental remains. In this study, thirty-nine teeth were incinerated at 300-1000 °C for 15 and 30 min and then measured using a spectrophotometer and an x-ray diffractometer. Response variables used were lightness, L*, and chromaticity a* and b* and luminance (whiteness and yellowness) for colour, and crystal size for crystallinity. Statistical analysis to determine the attribution of these variables revealed yellowness and crystal size were significantly affected by temperature (p < 0.05), whilst duration of heat-exposure showed no significant effect. This study suggests the inclusion of both spectrophotometric and x-ray diffraction in investigating thermal-heated teeth is useful to accurately estimate the temperature teeth are exposed to.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.