Monday Mourning by Kathy Reichs

Author:Kathy Reichs
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Adult, Thriller
ISBN: 9780434013234
Publisher: Pocket Star
Published: 2004-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

21

“TIP THE CRANIUM, THEN MOVE THE LIGHT BACK and forth over the molars.”

I did as Bergeron instructed.

“Do you see a glossiness in the folds of the enamel?”

I didn’t.

“Angle the beam.”

Bergeron was right. The shine was subtle but present, way down in the grooves.

“What is it?”

“If I’m not mistaken, the molars have been treated with a pit and fissure sealant.”

When I looked up, Bergeron was gangling his way to the scope. The man was definitely not poetry in motion.

“Sealant is a thin coating of plastic resin that’s applied to the chewing surface of a bicuspid or molar. It’s painted on as a liquid, and in roughly a minute it hardens to form a protective shield.”

“What’s the purpose?”

“To prevent occlusal caries. Tooth decay.”

Bergeron slipped the lower jaw of LSJML-38428 under the lens, peered through the eyepieces, and adjusted focus.

“Oui, madame. That’s a sealant.”

Hope did a little moth-flutter in my chest.

“When did these sealants come into use?”

“The first commercially available sealants were marketed to dentists in the early 1970s. They’ve been in widespread use since the eighties.” Bergeron spoke without looking up.

The moth exploded into a hummingbird.

The girl in the leather shroud couldn’t have died in the fifties! By elimination, that jumped her to the late eighties!

I tried to keep my voice calm.

“How common are these sealants?”

“Unfortunately for forensic purposes, very. Most pediatric dentists recommend application once the permanent molars erupt. School-based programs have been under way in a majority of American states for at least twenty years. Canada’s a bit behind in that, but sealants have been very popular here since the mid-eighties.”

Bergeron clicked off the fiber-optic light.

“Didn’t help this young lady much.” He thrust his chin at Dr. Energy’s girl. “She’s got more decay than that one over there.”

“So she was seeing a dentist at one point, then quit caring for her teeth.”

“Typical pattern for runaways. The parents provide dental care while they’re growing up, then the kids hit the streets, their diets and hygiene go to hell, and their teeth suffer.”

“How old was she?”

Bergeron returned to the light table and examined the dental X-rays for 38428.

“A little older than the others. I’d give her eighteen to twenty-one.”

Again, Bergeron’s estimate was consistent with what I’d seen in the bones.

“Any evidence of sealant on the other two?”

Bergeron reexamined the teeth of 38426 and 38427. Neither had been treated.

“A pity there are no restorations on any of them. Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.”

“You’ve helped plenty.”

I flew to my office and dialed Claudel.

He and Charbonneau were tied up in an interview and couldn’t be disturbed. I left a message requesting they call me as quickly as possible.

Returning to my lab, I picked up a fractured segment of jaw that Bergeron had left beside the scope. As I was returning it to LSJML-38427, I noticed a tiny nick on the right mandibular condyle.

Back to the scope.

By angling the fiber-optic light across the bone, I found two more nicks on the ascending ramus and a minuscule groove at the mandibular angle.

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