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A Single Tooth Can Reveal Six Types of Information About a Person, Including Their Health
Japanese researchers have shown that a single tooth can provide six types of forensic information: a person’s estimated age and year of birth, dietary habits and possible geographic origins, traces of medications and other substances, biological sex, and a DNA profile. This approach could help identify people whose remains have severely decomposed or survived only as skeletal remains.
The study was conducted by researchers at the Institute of Science Tokyo and Yamagata University. They examined the mandibular first premolars of 15 deceased individuals. The findings were published in the journal Scientific Reports.
“Different dental tissues preserve different types of forensic information. By combining several analytical methods, we aimed to obtain as much information as possible from a single tooth,” explained study leader Hisako Saito.
Radiocarbon analysis of tooth enamel made it possible to estimate year of birth. In 14 of the 15 cases, the estimate included the actual year. Analysis of carbon isotopes provided information about dietary habits and possible geographic origins. Age at death was estimated by examining dentin, the tissue beneath the enamel. The method had a mean absolute error of approximately eight years.
Traces of medications and other substances were detected in all 15 samples, although the results did not always match those of conventional toxicological tests. DNA analysis established biological sex in every case, while 12 samples yielded genetic profiles sufficient for individual identification.
The researchers believe that comprehensive tooth analysis could be useful in criminal investigations and in identifying disaster victims when little other biological material is available. They plan to improve the accuracy of the methods and develop standardized procedures for forensic practice.
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