A NEW TECHNIQUE FOR THE POSTMORTEM DETECTION OF TOOTH-COLORED DENTAL RESTORATIONS

Identification of unknown bodies is mainly made by dental examination and comparison with accurate dental records. Therefore it is necessary to examine the jaws carefully and to locate every tooth-coloured dent al restoration. Overlooking dental fillings can make positive identifi cation impossible. The technique described prepares the natural dental hard tissue by etching with 37% phosphoric acid. In the next step an indicator colours the roughened dental tissue but not the polished res toration material. In this way all 15 tested dental restoration materi als could be detected with high sensitivity.