Vicki Wedel | Western Michigan University (original) (raw)

Vicki Wedel

Address: Pomona, California, United States

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Papers by Vicki Wedel

Research paper thumbnail of Bodies in formation: An ethnography of anatomy and surgery education. Edited by Rachel Prentice. Weehawken, NJ: Duke University Press. 2013. 312 pp. ISBN 978-0-8223-5157-3. $24.95 (paper)

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Determination of Season at Death Using Dental Cementum Increment Analysis

Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2007

Abstract: Dental cementum anchors teeth into their sockets via the periodontal ligament. In mamm... more Abstract: Dental cementum anchors teeth into their sockets via the periodontal ligament. In mammals, dental cementum is laid down in alternating opaque and translucent bands representing winter (dormant) and summer (growth) seasons. Each pair of bands represents 1 year of life. Estimates of age at death based on counting pairs of bands are highly accurate. If the timing of the transition between winter and summer bands could be identified in humans, dental cementum increment analysis could be used to specify the season at death. This pilot project attempts to determine when these transitions occur and thus provide forensic anthropologists with a technique that would refine our estimates of postmortem interval. Extracted teeth were obtained from a local oral surgeon, embedded, sectioned, ground, polished, and examined under transmitted polarized light. The outermost increment was identified and measured along with other randomly chosen like bands. A transition from translucent to opaque bands was observed in teeth extracted in early October, while teeth extracted in early April exhibited nascent translucent bands. Further, significant correlations were observed between band thickness and number of days into either season, suggesting that band width increases as either season progresses. In this blind study, extracted teeth were effectively sorted into the spring/summer or fall/winter season 99% of the time.

Research paper thumbnail of Bodies in formation: An ethnography of anatomy and surgery education. Edited by Rachel Prentice. Weehawken, NJ: Duke University Press. 2013. 312 pp. ISBN 978-0-8223-5157-3. $24.95 (paper)

American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Determination of Season at Death Using Dental Cementum Increment Analysis

Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2007

Abstract: Dental cementum anchors teeth into their sockets via the periodontal ligament. In mamm... more Abstract: Dental cementum anchors teeth into their sockets via the periodontal ligament. In mammals, dental cementum is laid down in alternating opaque and translucent bands representing winter (dormant) and summer (growth) seasons. Each pair of bands represents 1 year of life. Estimates of age at death based on counting pairs of bands are highly accurate. If the timing of the transition between winter and summer bands could be identified in humans, dental cementum increment analysis could be used to specify the season at death. This pilot project attempts to determine when these transitions occur and thus provide forensic anthropologists with a technique that would refine our estimates of postmortem interval. Extracted teeth were obtained from a local oral surgeon, embedded, sectioned, ground, polished, and examined under transmitted polarized light. The outermost increment was identified and measured along with other randomly chosen like bands. A transition from translucent to opaque bands was observed in teeth extracted in early October, while teeth extracted in early April exhibited nascent translucent bands. Further, significant correlations were observed between band thickness and number of days into either season, suggesting that band width increases as either season progresses. In this blind study, extracted teeth were effectively sorted into the spring/summer or fall/winter season 99% of the time.

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