DNA, teeth and illnesses.

[Audio] DNA, teeth and illnesses. Dr Xavier Riaud Member of the National Academy of Dental Surgery Member of the National Academy of Surgery International Conference on Dentistry and Oral Health Paris, 20/04/2026..

[Audio] Programme. Introduction. What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? - through its DNA - through its structure. Identifying illnesses through teeth. A few examples. Conclusion..

[Audio] Introduction. Whether through the study of its DNA, which remains a costly process, or its mineral structure, a tooth provides endless scope of investigation provided the DNA is intact and is able to be used. This is based upon historical remains found on sites. A tooth is indestructible, withstanding very high temperatures (over 1000°C) and as a result, it is an extraordinary forensic tool, a source of knowledge which, if used well, provides an unlimited abundance of information..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Background: Ötzi is the chosen name given to a preserved human body which is frozen and dehydrated and was discovered in the Ötztal Alps on the Italian-Austrian border on the 19th of September 1991. Aged around 46 years old, he would have lived between 3 350 and 3 100 BC. Studies of his dental DNA concluded that it belonged to sub-division K1 of the European Haplogroup K very often found in the southern Alps and around the Ötztal region..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Identification : In 2005, archaeological research focussed on the Sainte-Croix altar at Frombork Cathedral where 13 bodies were found, including the skull and teeth of a man in his seventies. A team of specialists from the Krakow Forensic Institute and the Swedish University of Uppsala identified the remains of Copernicus, the famous astronomer. Studies of his dental DNA compared to that of a hair found in a 1598 book, entitled Calendarium Romanum Magnum by Johannes Stoeffler. This book was used by Copernicus when alive and enabled a formal identification..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Poisoning: In 2008, the remains of Diane de Poitiers were exhumed from the graveyard of the Anet Church. A complete, toothless lower jaw bone, an upper left jaw bone and a tooth were recovered. The tooth (n˚24 of the Tooth Numbering System) was subjected to DNA sampling which revealed a level of gold considerably higher than normal. Gold in the form of a drinking liquid solution would have been used by Diane to enhance longevity and beauty. This liquid solution slowly poisoned and killed her..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Ancestry: Today, Doorn Castle, the last residence of Emperor William II, is open to visitors. In a bedside cabinet a little box contains a tooth. Thanks to this tooth a case of possible illegitimate ancestry relating to William II was ruled out. An artist had claimed to be of noble descent and in 1996 a DNA sample was taken from the remains of the woman in question. This was compared with a sample from the tooth of the German monarch and no ancestral relationship was found..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its DNA. Chronobiology: In August 2008, Richard Green of the Max-Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig successfully completed the first entire mitochondrial DNA sequencing of a 38 000 year-old Homo neanderthalenis. Two teams from the same institute, one led by Svante Pääbo and the other by Edward Rubin, concluded in 2010, through a sequence of around one million nucleotides of mitochondrial DNA of dental origin from Neanderthal man, that each one of us carries a part of the genome of Neanderthal man..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Body temperature: The California Institute of Technology, more commonly known as Caltech, has been able to determine body temperature, from isotopes originally from dinosaur teeth, with the same accuracy had a rectal thermometer been used. The Brachiosaurus would therefore have had a temperature of 38.2 º C and the Camarasaurus a temperature of 35.7 º C..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Geographic origin: In 2011, a grave was excavated in Dorset where many Viking bodies were buried (54 bodies and 51 skulls). They had been killed by the local British population. After careful examination, the central incisors of these men had been made smooth. Scientists assume that these tribal mutilations were intended to frighten their enemies. The fact remains that after isotopic analysis of these famous teeth their origin was confirmed. One of these corpses was even found to have come from north of the Arctic Circle..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Age verification: In 1976 and in 1977, during the restoration of the mummy of Ramses II (1314-1213 BC) the Egyptian pharoah spent 8 months at the Musée de l’Homme in Paris where all conceivable forensic examinations were carried out. The teeth were not forgotten. Gustafson’s age determination method gave an age of death of 80 – plus or minus five years..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Diet: Australopithecus afarenis (4 100 000 to 3 000 000 years ago known as Lucy’s species) originates from Afar, in northern Ethiopia. The consumption of leaves left traces of a polished finish on the incisors. Food from the under the soil containing abrasive particles, such as grains from dust or rocks caused small craters to form in the enamel of the molars. The Australopithecus ate an abundance of subterranean parts of plants (roots, bulbs, tubers, rhizomes, onions) as well as other tough foods such as fruit and vegetables from Savannah shrubs. In this example, isotopes are a mine of information..

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Occupation: In March 2008, the mummified body of a woman from the Coptic period from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Grenoble underwent a CT scan at the University Radiology Clinic in the A. Michallon Hospital. “This forensic dental trace has a link to African sculpture. Movement within roots is recognised on the wooden sculptures of the leaders and clairvoyants of people of the Congo Vili and the Congo Yombe ethnic backgrounds of the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a certain type of chewing, fibres in the munkwisa root release juice which has hallucinogenic properties and increases clairvoyant powers. This Egyptian woman from the museum in Grenoble therefore carries a trace from her tooth revealing her to have worked as a clairvoyant.“.

[Audio] What potential information can the discovery of a tooth reveal ? -Through its structure. Some examples of famous dental identification: Hatshepsout (from a broken tooth in her mouth and a dental fragment found in a canopy vase bearing the image of the queen); John Wilkes Booth (from treatment performed two days before his death as identified by his dentist); Napoleon IV (from gold fillings which were made and identified by his dentist); Hitler (from witness statements and facial x-rays)..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Bacteria which can be detected from dental DNA of bodies found on archaeological sites. Historical dental DNA (illustrated by the PCR method) : Anelloviridae, Yersinia, Salmonella, Rickettsia, Bartonella Mycobacterium. Dental DNA taken from intact teeth: Actinobacteria, Actinomyces, Bifidobacterium, Brachybacterium, Corynebacterium, Dietzia, Propionibacterium, Rhodococcus, Rothia, Stomatococcus, Bacteroides, Capnocytophaga, Flavobacterium, Porphyromonas, Prevotella, Anaerococcus, Bacillus, Clostridium, Dialister, Enterococcus, Eubacterium, Filifactor, Gemella, Lachnospiraceae, Lactobacillus, Megasphaera, Micromonas, Mogibacterium, Peptostreptococcus, Pseudoramibacter, Selonomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Veillonella, Fusobacterium, Acinetobacter, Burkholderia, Campylobacter, Desulfobulbus, Eikenella, Enterobacter, Neisseria, Wolinella, Treponema, Deferribacteres, Flexistipes, Candida..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Microorganisms extracted from the dental pulp of historical DNA found at archaeological sites in Europe and the Mediterranean region. . Anelloviridae in Kaliningrad ; . Bartonella quintana in France, northern Italy and Lithuania ; . Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Lebanon and Syria ; . Mycobacterium leprae in Lebanon and Syria ; . Rickettsia prowazeckii in France and Lithuania ; . Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi in Greece ; . Yersinia pestis in France, Germany, Italy, England and the Netherlands As a result a proven historical map of diseases and epidemics has been established..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Summaries of previous studies of illnesses based on historical DNA. The Plague : . Drancourt (1998) >> Lambesc, Marseilles (1590, 1722), Yersinia pestis 6/12 teeth. . Raoult (2000) >> Montpellier (XIV century), Yersinia pestis 20/23 teeth. . Drancourt (2004) >> Sens, Dreux, Montpellier (V-XIV centuries), Yersinia pestis 10/19 teeth from 7/8 individuals. . Wiechmann & Grupe (2005) >> Aschheim (Germany, VI century), Yersinia pestis 2/6 teeth. . Drancourt (2007) >> Vienne, Martigues, Marseilles (VII-XVIII centuries), Yersinia pestis 5/36 teeth. . Bianucci (2008) >> France (1590-1722), Yersinia pestis 10/91 teeth from 6/28 individuals. . Bianucci (2009) >> France (XVI-XVIII centuries), Yersinia pestis 10/14 teeth from 4/4 individuals. . Haensch (2010) >> The Netherlands, France, England, Germany (XIV-XVII centuries), Yersinia pestis 15/91 teeth. . Tran (2011) >> Venice (Italy, XIV-XVI centuries), Bartonella quintana 5/93 teeth, Yersinia pestis 3/85. . Tran (2011) >> Bondy (XI-XV centuries), Bartonella quintana 3/14 teeth, Yersinia pestis 4/14. . Schuenemann (2011) >> London (England, 1348-1350), Yersinia pestis 17/46 teeth..

[Audio] Identifying illnesses through teeth. Trench fever : . Drancourt (2005) >> Roaix, Peyraoutes (2230-1950 BC), Bartonella quintana 1/12 teeth. . Raoult (2006) >> Vilnius (Lithuania, 1812), Rickettsia prowazeckii 4/72 teeth, Bartonella quintana 7/10 teeth. . Nguyen-Hieu (2010) >> Douai (1710-1712), Bartonella quintana 1/40 teeth, Rickettsia prowazeckii 6/55 teeth. . Tran (2011) >> Venice (Italy, XIV–XVI centuries) Bartonella quintana 5/93 teeth, Yersinia pestis 3/85. . Tran (2011) >> Bondy (XI-XV centuries), Bartonella quintana 3/14 teeth, Yersinia pestis 4/14 teeth..