title: Effects of elevated temperatures on different restorative materials: An aid to forensic identification processes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Heat-induced alterations to dental and restorative materials can be of great interest to forensic dentistry. Knowing the specific optical behavior of dental materials can be of high importance as recognition of changes induced by high temperatures can lead to the determination of material which was used in a dental restoration, facilitating identification of burned human remains.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To observe the effects of predetermined temperatures (200°C-400°C-600°C-800°C-1000°C) on unrestored teeth and different restorative materials macroscopically and then examine them under a stereomicroscope for the purpose of identification.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted on 375 extracted teeth which were divided into five groups of 75 teeth each as follows: group 1- unrestored teeth, group 2- teeth restored with all-ceramic crowns, Group 3- with class I silver amalgam filling, group 4- with class I composite restoration, and group 5- with class I glass ionomer cement restoration.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Unrestored and restored teeth display a series of specific macroscopic & stereomicroscopic structural changes for each range of temperature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dental tissues and restorative materials undergo a series of changes which correlate well with the various temperatures to which they were exposed. These changes are a consequence of the nature of the materials and their physicochemical characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Chetan A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Pol
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Suvarna K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ghige
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Suchitra R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gosavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India.
authors.forename: Vinay K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Hazarey
keywords: Forensic identification; restorative materials; stereomicroscope; temperatures