These new data, combined with the most recent estimates of its mass, allowed the researchers to infer its chemical composition.

BBC: Oddballs: The strange worlds beyond our Solar System

Buchholz, a physicist and a nuclear engineer, is an expert at something called accelerator mass spectrometry, an extraordinarily precise method of determining the chemical composition of materials.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Using a combination of modern physics tools--including three-dimensional, high-resolution X-ray, radiocarbon dating with accelerator mass spectrometry, and infrared spectroscopy--the researchers analysed the tooth to determine the age and composition of a resinous filling detected inside.

UNESCO: Basic Sciences