The application of stable isotope analysis to modern human teeth
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The application of stable isotope analysis of d13C and d15N to the dentine of modern human teeth collected from participants of the Born in Bradford project, in order to investigate the effects of maternal health and behaviour on nutrition and physiology in the perinatal period.
IRAS ID
149299
Contact name
Julia Beaumont
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bradford
Research summary
Human teeth are unique structures within the body: they develop during childhood and adolescence and the ages at which they start and finish growing, and the rate at which they form, appear to be independent of race, nutritional status and period. This has led to them being used for methods of estimating age in both modern and ancient individuals. While they are forming they record within the tissues elements which are ingested from our food and drink, and also reflect changes brought about by the physiology of the individual. Because they do not remodel, the tissues formed in childhood are present in the adult.
This project will analyze dentine from exfoliated teeth collected by Ethical Tissue from participants in the "Born in Bradford" project: this tissue is formed "in utero" and retained in the tip of deciduous (milk) teeth when they are naturally shed. As the only extant tissue in the body from this period of life, it is an opportunity to measure dietary and physiological markers of both the baby and the mother. Health and dietary data held by "Born in Bradford" will be compared with the isotopic data from the dentine analysis.
Success in identifying the changes within the tissues of modern individuals with a known life-history will improve our understanding of the effects of maternal behaviour during pregnancy and experiences such as nutritional deprivation and migration during childhood.REC name
East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/EE/1038
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jun 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion