TRANSCRIPTION 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:04.950
In Breaking Bad, one of the officers made a passing
2
00:00:05.030 --> 00:00:09.519
comment about how teeth can explode like popcorn in a fire.
3
00:00:11.580 --> 00:00:13.419
So it was the fifth season of Breaking Bad where
4
00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.519
investigators examined the remains of Gus Fring's industrial laundry, which
5
00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:20.300
concealed one of the most sophisticated meth labs in television history.
6
00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:23.800
Following the destruction of the lab, investigators confront a familiar
7
00:00:23.899 --> 00:00:27.850
forensic problem. Extreme heat has damaged human remains, including the teeth,
8
00:00:28.850 --> 00:00:32.310
raising questions about whether the victim can be identified. The
9
00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:35.579
dialogue suggests that teeth exposed to tremendous heat, like I mentioned,
10
00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:41.659
can pop like popcorn. But is that scientifically possible? Well, surprisingly,
11
00:00:41.700 --> 00:00:45.079
there is some legitimate science behind the claim. Human teeth
12
00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:48.770
are durable structures. Their outer layer, enamel, consists of approximately
13
00:00:48.770 --> 00:00:53.750
96% mineral by weight, primarily a crystalline substance called hydroxyapatite.
14
00:00:54.729 --> 00:00:58.950
This makes enamel the hardest substance in the human body. However,
15
00:00:59.009 --> 00:01:01.189
hardness does not mean resistance to every form of damage.
16
00:01:01.350 --> 00:01:05.200
When teeth encounter extreme temperatures, several physical and chemical processes
17
00:01:05.260 --> 00:01:09.819
begin occurring. First, moisture within the tooth evaporates. As temperatures increase,
18
00:01:09.879 --> 00:01:14.299
organic components from the dentin begin decomposing. The enamel and
19
00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:18.260
dentin also respond differently to temperature changes. This creates internal
20
00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.189
stresses that can produce fractures, cracking, and fragmentation. Under sufficiently
21
00:01:23.250 --> 00:01:27.590
extreme conditions, teeth can break into multiple pieces. So the
22
00:01:27.629 --> 00:01:32.549
popcorn comparison sound is not entirely ridiculous. However, teeth don't
23
00:01:32.629 --> 00:01:35.250
normally explode in the same way that popcorn kernels do.
24
00:01:35.829 --> 00:01:40.250
Popcorn pops because water trapped inside a relatively impermeable shell
25
00:01:40.310 --> 00:01:44.159
turns into steam, building pressure onto the shell ruptures. Teeth
26
00:01:44.189 --> 00:01:51.900
undergo a more complicated process involving thermo-expansion, dehydration, chemical decomposition,
27
00:01:51.939 --> 00:01:56.189
and structural weakening. If teeth are destroyed by fire, does
28
00:01:56.230 --> 00:01:59.530
that prevent investigators from identifying a body? Well, not truly,
29
00:01:59.569 --> 00:02:04.519
not necessarily. Forensic ortodologists specialize in identifying human remains through
30
00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:10.759
dental structures. Even severely burned teeth may retain recognizable characteristics. Fillings, crowns,
31
00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:14.419
root structures, and other dental features can sometimes survive the temperatures.
32
00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:20.379
Investigators can compare these structures against dental records, including radiographs
33
00:02:20.460 --> 00:02:30.069
obtained before death. And dental evidence is only one identification method. So,
34
00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:32.689
a particularly interesting aspect of Breaking Bad is that the
35
00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.900
lab explosion would not necessarily create uniform temperatures throughout the
36
00:02:35.939 --> 00:02:40.900
building either. Fire behavior depends on oxygen availability, fuel distribution, ventilation,
37
00:02:40.919 --> 00:02:45.340
and the surrounding materials. Some objects may experience incredible heat,
38
00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:49.689
while others remain relatively protected. Investigators might recover useful evidence
39
00:02:49.710 --> 00:02:53.080
from certain areas that appear completely destroyed. And there's one
40
00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:57.800
final scientific complication. Even when investigators recover fragmented teeth, they
41
00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:02.379
may sometimes reconstruct dental structures or identify distinctive restorative materials.
42
00:03:03.090 --> 00:03:05.650
The destruction of a tooth does not automatically eliminate its
43
00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:10.330
forensic value. So was Breaking Bad scientifically accurate? Well, partially.
44
00:03:11.490 --> 00:03:15.129
Extreme heat can unquestionably destroy teeth, and severe thermal damage
45
00:03:15.169 --> 00:03:19.240
can make dental ID extremely difficult. But the suggestion that
46
00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:22.520
teas simply pop like popcorn and become completely useless, that
47
00:03:22.599 --> 00:03:24.159
oversimplifies the science.