By partnering with geologists, the two professions are now constructing a database of tooth enamel composition to help identify fallen troops. If successful, this initiative may be a game-changer in forensic analyses and allow closure for families through the analysis of isotopic differences found in our teeth.
Decoding the Enamel
Of the Americans missing from all of our nation’s wars, World War II accounts for more than 80 percent. Those remains are hard to identify because of decomposition that often covers up typical identifying characteristics like fingerprints and facial features.
Now, a new method to harness the enduring effects of our environment on the hardest substance in our bodies—enamel—is being explored by researchers. The researchers can tell where one grew up by looking at the isotopes of oxygen in tooth enamel, because there are subtle differences in how it is made.
For heavy oxygen, a limit on where it could one day be found in water is already clear–it ranges from the most on the Gulf Coast to least in the Rockies. When enamel forms in the mouth it picks up water molecules that have a specific isotopic composition, or fingerprint, based on the geology where that individual lived as teeth developed.
An exhaustive database(UIAlertAction)
Led by Gabe Bowen, professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah — are compiling a database with tooth enamel composition. Wisconsin, meanwhile, is collecting teeth from a countrywide volunteer collection program of wisdom teeth (and comparing the isotopic profile of their enamel with the ground-water data they’re so carefully testing).
Such an extensive, multi-disciplinary endeavour proposed by geographers and dentists can assist in not just identifying deceased soldiers but also has the potential to contribute towards enhancing forensic science itself. The database is being constructed to assist with cold case resolution, missing/wanted individual identification, immigration assessment, and responses to humanitarian crises where individuals are anonymous.
The researchers take an elegant and cost-effective way of using the course of regular dental treatment. Modern dental treatment often involves the removal of wisdom teeth and these functional teeth can be used to help further this important work. This is the beauty of this method, says Michael Bingham, clinical research coordinator in the School of Dentistry at the University of Utah an otherwise discardable waste product can now be used out to help families get their loved ones back.
Conclusion
The partnership The idea of forming a tooth enamel database in collaboration with geologists and dentists is a revolutionary attempt, giving beacon for future in the field. In a series of future experiments, building on the work they’ve done so far, Forman will make use of an unprecedented resource tied up in some of the hardest parts of our bodies to build a high-resolution isotope “fingerprinting” library that can be used to locate missing persons, provide closure for families and advance the field forensic science more broadly. With the project only growing and more tooth samples being taken in, the uses of this revolutionary technique can be nothing short of amazing from solving cold cases to humanitarian crises and providing answers long anticipated by those who have been waiting far too many years.
