Forensics Flashcards

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1
Q

What do forensic dentists do?

A

Provide opinions that are considered valid in a coroners court, requires proper handling, examination and evaluation of dental evidence

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2
Q

What are the six main areas of practice for forensic dentists?

A
  • identification of found human remains
  • indentification in mass fatalities
  • assessment of bite mark injuries
  • assessment of child abuse and of adults and elderly
  • civil cases involving malpractice
  • age estimation
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3
Q

Why identify the deceased?

A
  • it’s the last dignified thing you can do for the person
  • allows correct body to be released to relatives
  • allows relatives to bring closure
  • wills, insurance, pensions and other benefits to be paid
  • cultural reasons (allow burial and remarriage)
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4
Q

Why are teeth good for identification?

A
  • biologically inert
  • protected within the oral cavity
  • malocclusions and anomalies
  • antemortem records available: written record of restorations done (more difficult if none), dental chart, radiographs, study models
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5
Q

Why age the deceased?

A

Identification, grouping in cases of multiple unidentified bodies, see if dead baby was alive at birth

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6
Q

Why age the living?

A

If still a child or not, not accurate, within a few months not an exact age!

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7
Q

How can we age people (3)?

A

Appearance, features of skeleton, teeth

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8
Q

Why is judging by appearance not very good?

A

Subject to high degree of false positives and negatives, difficult for relatives to identify people and plastic surgery etc can change how old you look

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9
Q

How can we age looking at features of the skeleton?

A
  • non synovial joints -> Surface compared to charts for levels of wear and tear related to broad age range, most commonly used pubic symphysis (secondary cartilaginous joint)
  • cranial sutures -> assess degree of ossification and shape also determine race into 3 groups (Caucasoid, negroid or monogloid) and sex
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10
Q

How do we age using teeth:

A
  • foetal ageing
  • neonatal line
  • developmental and mineralisation dates (before 6 months)
  • erupting dates and root development (before 20 y/o)
  • tooth surface loss
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11
Q

What methods can assess tooth surface loss and to what accuracy?

A

Attrition +/- 15 yrs

Aspartic acid racemization +/- 3 yrs

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12
Q

What other factors can assess tooth surface loss?

A
  • root dentine translucency
  • occlusal attrition
  • coronal secondary dentine (radiograph, toot area: pulp area)
  • loss of periodontal attachment
  • apical cementum apposition
  • apical resorption
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13
Q

What is amino acid racemitization?

A

In nature amino acids are in L form, once metabolic turnover stops they are slowly converted to D form, D:L ratio indicates age
N.b. Especially useful in dentine because no fast turnover but less successful in enamel as less proteins

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14
Q

What are the issues with amino acid racemitisation?

A
  • strongly temp dependent
  • few labs worldwide with calibration curves
  • effects of water, soil and time currently unknown
  • would be better to use enamel as more resistant to post mortem changes
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15
Q

What is C14 incorporation ageing technique?

A

“Bomb pulses” in Cold War (1953-1963) changes levels of c14 in atmosphere, incorporated into enamel at birth, level in atmosphere at time compared to level I. Teeth to determine year of birth and geographical location

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16
Q

What are the problems with post mortem ageing?

A
  • lack of consensus or uniformity of procedures used across labs
  • reference samples only available for some populations
  • estimate only
  • older a person is the larger the discrepancy between biological and chronological age