Estimation of death data from the analysis of oral and dental tissues. A review

Abstract

Justification: The estimation of the time of death in criminal cases and forensic investigations remains a crucial challenge that continues to present difficulties. This has led to the use of various methodologies on different tissues, including dental tissues such as pulp, enamel, cementum, periodontal ligament, oral mucosa, and gingiva, to improve accuracy in determining postmortem intervals. Objective: To conduct a literature review of scientific articles related to the estimation of the time of death based on dental tissues using histopathological, morphological, or molecular methodologies. Methodology: A search was conducted in the PubMed, Google Scholar, and Springer Link databases using keywords in both Spanish and English: “Dental Tissues,” “Post-mortem Changes,” and “Forensic Dentistry.” A summary table of the selected articles was created, and an evidence analysis was performed using the STROBE and ARRIVE guidelines. Results: From an initial pool of 2,004 articles, nine articles were selected that described post-mortem changes in these tissues over different time intervals. These changes were evaluated through histopathological, morphological, and molecular analyses. After reviewing each article using the ARRIVE and STROBE guidelines, eight articles met the proposed criteria for this study. Discussion: It was observed that dental tissues undergo various post-mortem changes depending on different time intervals, which can be evidenced through the application of different histopathological, morphological, and molecular analyses and evaluations. Conclusion: The post-mortem transformations of dental tissues allowed the identification of reliable patterns for estimating the time of death, making it possible to apply this knowledge in determining the post-mortem interval.