title: Comparison of age estimation in Japanese and Scandinavian teeth using amino acid racemization.
abstract: Racemization method is currently considered to be one of the most accurate methods for age estimation. There are many factors that affect racemization reaction velocities. We investigated ethnic differences in the racemization reaction velocities between Japanese and Scandinavian teeth. After a heating experiment, the Arrhenius equation was used to obtain a rate constant (k). Both groups presented almost identical velocities, indicating that there was no difference in the tooth racemization reaction between the two groups. However, because 14 of the 18 Scandinavian teeth had multiple roots, it is possible that accurate racemization rates of the teeth themselves were not reflected in the results. These findings reconfirm that the type of tooth selected is extremely important when evaluating age by racemization.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Frontier Oral Science, Kanagawa Dental College, 82 Inaoka-cho Yokosuka, 238-8580 Kanagawa, Japan. ohtanisu@kdcnet.ac.jp
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohtani
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D001224:Aspartic Acid / Q000032:analysis*; D002849:Chromatography, Gas; D003804:Dentin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries; D014070:Tooth / Q000737:chemistry; D014092:Tooth Root; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D001224:Aspartic Acid