The weathering hypothesis in the dentition and its effect on positive identification
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Citation
Abstract
The legacy of racism in the U.S. has resulted in chronic racial stress and poverty for Black Americans for generations, which the work of public health researcher A.T.
Geronimus (1992; 1996; 2006; 2023) has correlated with accelerated biological aging.
Her “weathering hypothesis” (WH) has now been applied to medicine, anthropology and
dentistry, as researchers have investigated her concept of embodied health inequity in
marginalized groups, focusing on Black and non-Hispanic white (nHw) differences for
the U.S. context. This study, utilizing data from the New Mexico Decedent Image
Database (NMDID), investigates the WH dentally and contextualizes this hypothesis to
forensic anthropology. Evidence of dental weathering was measured in Black and nHw
American adults (n = 296) in four age cohorts (aged 18-100 years): antemortem tooth
loss (AMTL), untreated oral disease (OD), and restoration count. Results indicate
adequate support for premature dental weathering in U.S. Black adults with statistically
significant differences in AMTL and OD scores between groups. It was found that
periodontal disease provides the strongest support for the WH for its inflammatory
nature. Furthermore, dental restorations were found to have more value forensically than
what is currently utilized, particularly in certain forensic scenarios. Public health
researchers, dental clinicians, and forensic practitioners must continue to collaborate
and research embodied inequity in the dentition and skeleton.
Description
2024