Rates of Putrefaction of Dental Pulp in the Northwest Coast Environment

Cytological stability is of interest to criminal investigators in instances where remnants of soft tissue have been preserved, since such tissue can aid in the identification of human remains, helping to determine either the sex of the individual or his or her identity. This study based on seven exp...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forensic sciences 1991-09, Vol.36 (5), p.1492-1502
Main Authors: Duffy, JB, Skinner, MF, Waterfield, JD
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Cell Nucleus - pathology
Dental Pulp - pathology
Fibroblasts - pathology
Forensic odontology
Humans
Leukocytes - pathology
Necrosis
Northwestern United States
Postmortem Changes
Seasons
Swine
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Summary:Cytological stability is of interest to criminal investigators in instances where remnants of soft tissue have been preserved, since such tissue can aid in the identification of human remains, helping to determine either the sex of the individual or his or her identity. This study based on seven experiments shows that, in Northwest coast outdoor environments in both summer (three experiments) and winter (three experiments), the stability of dental pulp nuclei ranges from 4 days to 2 weeks. The seventh experiment serves to describe the morphological sequence observed in nuclear putrefaction. The specimens included human and pig extracted teeth and unextracted pig teeth. Deposition of the specimens was made both on the surface and in the subsurface (30-cm depth), and the environmental variables were recorded.
ISSN:0022-1198
1556-4029
DOI:10.1520/JFS13169J