All that glitters is not gold: X-ray fluorescence analysis of a fixed dental prosthesis from Colecção de Esqueletos Identificados Século XXI, Portugal (CEI/XXI)

TL;DR

A dental prosthesis was analyzed using X-ray fluorescence to determine its composition, revealing it was made of copper and aluminum, not gold and palladium as initially thought.

Contribution

The study demonstrates the use of X-ray fluorescence to accurately identify the composition of a dental prosthesis, aiding in forensic identification.

Findings

X-ray fluorescence detected copper and aluminum as the main elements in the dental prosthesis.

No gold or palladium was found in the prosthesis, contradicting initial assumptions.

The prosthesis likely originated from an Eastern European country, aligning with the individual's birthplace.

Abstract

Access to better health care anticipates that more medical devices can be found alongside skeletal remains. Those employed in oral rehabilitation, with available brands or batch/series, can prove useful in the identification process. A previous study in the Colecção de Esqueletos Identificados Século XXI described macroscopically the dental prostheses. An unusual case of a dental device with chromatic alterations demonstrated to require a more detailed analysis. The individual, a 53-year-old male, exhibited, at both arches, a fixed tooth-supported rehabilitation, with gold colouring classified initially as a gold-palladium alloy. Simultaneously, a green pigmentation deposit was observable in bone and prosthesis. This investigation aimed to verify the elemental composition of the dental prosthesis alloy. Elemental analysis was performed by X-ray fluorescence in two regions (labial surface of the prosthetic crown and the root surface of the lower right lateral incisor). Both the spectra and the qualitative results found higher levels of copper and aluminium, followed by nickel, iron, zinc, and manganese. No gold or palladium was detected. The most probable assumption is that a copper-aluminium alloy was used, as its elemental concentration corresponds to those measured in similar devices. Dental prostheses of copper-aluminium alloys have been made popular since the 1980s, particularly in the USA, Japan, and Eastern Europe. Apart from the biographical information, it was also known that the individual’s place of birth was an Eastern European country, which highlighted the usefulness of this type of information when dealing with missing people cases.

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