Dental color measurement to predict DNA concentration in incinerated teeth for human identification

Abstract

Teeth exposed to thermal stress can shed light on the identification of incinerated individuals and on the circumstances of the fire. Changes in the color of burned teeth can provide information on structural changes and the temperature of exposure. The objective of this study was to correlate color modifications with the concentration of human DNA in teeth burned at different temperatures. Spectrophotometry was used to measure the color of 40 teeth heated at temperatures of 100, 200, and 400C for 60 min. DNA was extracted by phenol-chloroform extraction and quantified by real-time quantitative PCR using the Quantifier human DNA quantification kit. Preliminary results indicated an association of higher temperature with changes in colorimetric variables and a decrease in DNA concentrations. A significant positive correlation was found between luminosity values and DNA concentration (r = 0.4727, p = 0.0128) and between chromaticity a* values and DNA concentration (r = 0.4154, p = 0.0250). Spectrophotometry analysis of the color of burned teeth may predict the feasibility of extracting human DNA for identification purposes.