In vitro behavior of the dental tissues and some dental materials subjected to high temperatures with forensic purposes.

Abstract

Objective: To describe how diverse dental tissues (enamel, dentin and cement) and four dental materials (amalgam, composite, glass ionomer and zinc oxide modified cement) react after high temperature exposure. Dental tissue and dental materials can be used to identify human remains.
Methods: An experimental in vitro study was carried out to determine physical macroscopic and microscopic changes in dental tissues and four dental materials, using 199 extracted teeth after high temperature exposition. Fire exposure at diverse temperatures ranking (200ºC, 400ºC, 600ºC, 800ºC, 1000ºC, 1200ºC) were performed in dental materials and tissues to determine their physical stability.
Results: Dental tissues and the four dental materials evaluated had high resistance to high temperatures without apparent variation in their physical structure. These features in both dental tissues and dental materials could be useful in forensic identification. However, small changes occurred after temperaure exposure such as dimensional expansion, presence of fissures, cracks, fractures and color change on dental tissues and dental materials.
Conclusions: This study determines that hard dental tissues and dental materials were able to resist high temperatures without high physical variants that may facilitate forensic identification of human remains after fire exposure.