Long-term persistence of saliva-derived microRNA in human dental calculus for Forensic investigations

Our study suggests that it is possible to recover well preserved miRNA in the tartar matrix increasing the sustainability of dental calculus research. Although the cause of different levels of some miRNAs between ancient and modern tartar samples has not been explained because it is influenced by several sources of degradation such as water, enzymes and microorganism for extended periods of time. Therefore the analysis of the saliva-derived miRNAs in dental calculus could provide futher valuable information to estabilish postmortem individual identification of unknown human remains, especially for unidentified subjects following mass calamities, fire or explosions of which the teeth are the only human tissue available for analysis. It must also beunderlined that our study is a pilot study and in future futher investigations are needed to estabilish if miRNA-based identification procedures in tartar samples are a reliable source.