I have been reading about the reasons why investigators sometimes use dental records to identify a deceased person. What I found indicated that teeth hold up over time better than much of our bodies do. Dental records are significant when the deceased has been burned (an explosion, arson, etc). Dental records are also common when some time has passed since the person passed away, especially if the person passed away outside and was exposed to the elements. Based on what I read, apparently a month is long enough to justify the use of dental records to identify AB. Perhaps there is a coroner or investigator among us who can offer more detailed info on this. I am neither-I just did a bit of research online this afternoon.
Slightly related, if I’m remembering this correctly and not confusing cases, I saw something on Forensic Files, an awful awful case where a man killed his girlfriend, dismembered her in the tub, separated her jaw from her skull, pulled out every one of her teeth with pliers, then threw her skull in the lake.
Years later iirc, two young boys fishing at the lake caught her skull on their fishing line.
The killer thought that by pulling out all of her teeth, this would further restrict identification via dental records, in addition to the dismemberment. What he didn’t know, is that DNA was preserved in the pulp of, iirc, a wisdom tooth that was underneath the gum. This led to her ID.
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Additionally:
“In summary, pulp and cementum are clearly the most valuable sources of nuclear DNA in the tooth and both these tissues and dentine are good sources of mtDNA. Enamel is important in the preservation of dentine and pulp but is devoid of DNA.”
Teeth as a source of DNA for forensic identification of human remains: A Review - ScienceDirect
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“The tooth is the most valuable source to extract DNA since it is a sealed box preserving DNA from extreme environmental conditions, except its apical entrance. This has prompted the investigation of various human tissues as potential source of genetic evidentiary material. Recently teeth have been the subject of DNA studies as the dental hard tissue physically encloses the pulp and offers an anatomical configuration of great durability.[
2] Moreover, when morphologically evaluated, even a single tooth provides valuable information regarding the individual to whom the tooth belongs.[
3–
5]”
Dental DNA fingerprinting in identification of human remains
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There’s also the specific field of Forensic Odontology:
“Forensic Odontology a branch of Forensic sciences uses the skill of the dentist in personal identification during mass calamities, sexual assault and child abuse to name a few. This branch not stranger to many has been growing tenfold in its potential and its ability to bring the forlorn to justice where a dental remains is the only available evidence. It’s role and importance in the judiciary is fast growing and hence in depth knowledge in this field seems more than justified.”
Forensic Odontology: The New Dimension in Dental Analysis
