Estimation of time of death from histopathology of dental pulp - An autopsy based study Rajesh R1, Pradhan Priyadarshee2, Kumar P. Sampath3, Malathi N.4 1Postgraduate Student III Year, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur, Chennai-600116 2Associate Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur, Chennai-600116 3Prof & Head, Department of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute, Porur, Chennai-600116 4Professor and Head, Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Sri Ramachandra Dental Sciences, Porur, Chennai-600116 Abstract There are various methods to estimate time since death, but the reliability of the methods and the results are mainly depended upon the varying external and internal factors of the deceased. Teeth being the hardest organ in the human body they protect the pulp from the external temperature of both the extremes and helps us estimate the time since death from a range of 6–12 hrs till 5–6 days after which it decays completely. Study was done in 55 cases of both the sex and different age group with known time of death and divided into three groups as 0–12 hrs, 12-24hrs and 24-36hrs. The post mortem degenerative changes in the histopathology of the pulp like Chromatin clumping, Mild Stromal degeneration, rupture of blood vessels, Karyorrhexis, Karyolysis, Pyknosis and vacuolar degeneration are noted by Haematoxylin and Eosin staining method at different time intervals. Top |