Component analysis of dental porcelain for assisting dental identification.

The fluorescence of porcelain crowns recovered from the mouth of an unknown murder victim, and several control porcelain samples, were examined by fluorescent examination lamps. The fluorescence from two of the control samples was quite similar to that from the porcelain crowns recovered from the victim. To increase the objectivity of the results by quantitative analysis, the composition of each porcelain crown and control sample was also evaluated by wave dispersion X-ray microanalyser. The elements detected from the porcelain crowns of the victim matched those of two of the porcelain samples. Later, the antemortem dental records and radiographs of the victim were obtained through a dentist, who had recognized the name of the porcelain manufacturer in a postmortem dental information request placed on the Japanese Dental Association web page. Although component analysis of dental porcelain may be an effective means of assisting dental identification, a more rapid and non-destructive analysis for detecting the elements is required. The energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectrometer was used for a pilot study of identification of porcelain composition.