Degeneration in Dental Hard Tissues and Pulp

Abstract

The estimation of age is essential for the identification of corpses with unknown identity and skeletal remains in forensic medicine, and an important factor for demographic reconstructions in archeology (Işcan 1989). Dental traits are particularly suited for age estimation. In adults, a number of classic and new procedures are used; the best results may be reached by a combination of methods (Alt 1995). Degeneration indicates changes in dental hard tissues which occur as a result of disturbances in nutrition or metabolism. The extent of such alterations increases with age and is sometimes termed regressive change. These terms are more commonly applied to soft tissues than to hard tissues such as teeth, but age-related changes in the teeth are often described as degenerative changes (Kvaal 1995). A general description of such changes together with the normal histology can be found in a number of standard textbooks on the microstructure of the teeth (Scott and Symons 1977; Bhaskar 1980; Hillson 1986; Berkovitz et al. 1989; Schroeder 1991).