odontology
by Leif Kullman
And afterwards, what is left??
After an autopsy and that the death certificate has been written a body is usually handed over to the relatives for the funeral proceedings.
Different procedures are practiced regarding the body, in Sweden it is rather popular to cremate the body. The remaining ash is later on taken care of and kept in an urn or the ash is also sometimes scattered with the wind.
Probably all forensic odontologists have been faced with questions about the dental remains, in particular what will happen to the different restorative material made of precious metal after a cremation. As with the gold, embedded in the restorations for example. And rather natural questions will be: Will the gold melt and if not, is the gold taken care of …….and if so…..by whom then? Does it belong to the authorities? No certainly not, most of us agree, of course it should belong to the mourning relatives.
In Sweden, trials have showed that the temperature in crematoriums not reaches a sufficient level to melt dental gold. So usually the gold will follow the body or ash in earth.
Unfortunately, different unscrupulous human beings have found this, and we have had a couple of judicial procedures against people in Sweden, employed in crematoriums, who have been charged for stealing the gold from some bodies. And without doubt, the possibility exists. Witnesses have testified that some of these employees have sold gold for large amounts of money every year.
In my work I have several times also had inquiries from relatives if I could assist and make extractions of precious metal restorations and handing it over to them. To not find myself in an unwanted position suddenly, the policy of the Institution and myself have always been to say: "We cannot do that for you, our mission here is to work with identification and other legal commissions. But if you have an own dentist who will assist, it is possible to come here and make it".
But once, I made an exception. A colleague called me, his father had recently died and his body was already kept in our department for an autopsy. I recognized the colleague since his time as a student in the Dental School and could remember him as very serious. He and his father used to talk about a couple of crowns which the father had, and they had agreed that the son should have them after on, as some kind of memory of his father. The crowns thus had an emotional value for him and I promised to help him. But I asked him to write and sign a paper, in which he stated this will of his. So he did and I carried out his wish.
