In Vitro Description of Macroscopic Changes of Dental Amalgam Discs Subject to High Temperatures to Forensic Purposes.

Objective: To describe the behavior of 45 discs of dental amalgam of known dimension prepared from three commercially available brands of dental amalgam (Contour® Kerr®-USA, Admix® SDI®-Australia and Nu Alloy® Newstethic®-Colombia) when subjected to the action of high temperatures (200 °C, 400 °C, 600 °C, 800 °C, 1000 °C). It was hoped to establish parameters that could be used for human dental identification in cases of charred, burned or incinerated human remains.

Materials And Methods: A pseudo-experimental descriptive in-vitro study was designed to describe the macroscopic physical changes to the surface of 45 discs of pre-prepared amalgam of three commercially available brands exposed to a range of high temperatures.