Forensic Dental Age Estimation: Development of New Algorithm Based on the Minimal Necessary Databases
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- The dental age determination of the layman differs from that of the expert.
- The wisdom teeth of the mandible lead to a more precise dental age determination related to chronological age.
- By developing a regression function, a more accurate dental age determination is possible.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Subject Group
2.2. Inclusion Criteria
- Orthopantomograms taken between 1 January–31 March 2020;
- Male patients;
- Minimum one wisdom tooth present.
2.3. Exclusion Criteria
- No syndromal previous diseases, tumor;
- Female.
2.4. Design
2.5. Equipment
- Computer operating on Windows 10 (2015, Redmond, Washington, DC, USA);
- Viewing monitor (calibration according to DIN 6868-157);
- SIDEXIS® XG 2.63 program (2016 Sirona Dental Systems GmbH, Wals, Austria).
2.6. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
- The dental age determination of the layman differs from that of the expert.This hypothesis could be confirmed, although the difference was only slight: Demirjian’s staging method leads to an overestimation in our study—expert by 1.4 years on average, lay by 1.9 years.
- The wisdom teeth of the mandible lead to a more precise dental age determination related to chronological age.This hypothesis could be confirmed. Comparing the four teeth showed a more precise prediction of chronological age while looking at the lower teeth (R2 ≥ 0.50 vs. R2 < 0.50, Table 2, last column).
- By developing a regression function, a more accurate dental age determination is possible.This hypothesis could be confirmed. Using regression function gives a more precise approach to chronological age while performing Demirjian’s staging method on wisdom teeth.
5. Conclusions
- The biological age is linear to the mineralization stages of the wisdom teeth except for tooth 18 in this study.
- As a result of this study, we would recommend a preferred use of the lower wisdom teeth for dental age estimation.
- The formulas that emerged in our analysis show a more precise approach to the chronological age. One might speculate that future research should test this result on a larger population.
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Valid Obs. | Missing Obs. | Mean | SD |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age chronological | 385 | 0 | 15.45 | 2.17 |
Age estim. by expert * | 385 | 0 | 16.85 | 1.87 |
Age estim. by lay * | 385 | 0 | 17.33 | 1.99 |
Mineralization Tooth | ||||
18 | 307 | 78 | 16.79 | 1.78 |
28 | 316 | 69 | 16.75 | 1.50 |
38 | 333 | 52 | 16.71 | 2.16 |
48 | 311 | 74 | 17.05 | 2.14 |
Variable | Beta | SEbeta | Cons | R2 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tooth 18 | 0.72 | 0.06 | 3.17 | 0.35 |
Tooth 28 | 0.94 | 0.06 | −0.52 | 0.47 |
Tooth 38 | 0.73 | 0.04 | 3.27 | 0.52 |
Tooth 48 | 0.72 | 0.04 | 3.41 | 0.50 |
Variables | Beta | SEbeta | Cons. | R2 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Teeth 18, 28, 38, 48 | −0.10, 0.54, 0.16, 0.31 | 0.12, 0.14, 0.12, 0.10 | 0.16 | 0.57 |
Teeth 28, 38, 48 | 0.46, 0.14, 0.31 | 0.09, 0.12, 0.10 | 0.13 | 0.57 |
Teeth 28, 48 | 0.51, 0.41 | 0.08, 0.06 | −0.04 | 0.56 |
Teeth 28, 38 | 0.49, 0.41 | 0.09, 0.07 | 0.35 | 0.55 |
Teeth 38, 48 | 0.38, 0.37 | 0.11, 0.10 | 2.85 | 0.53 |
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Bjelopavlovic, M.; Zeigner, A.-K.; Hardt, J.; Petrowski, K. Forensic Dental Age Estimation: Development of New Algorithm Based on the Minimal Necessary Databases. J. Pers. Med. 2022, 12, 1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12081280
Bjelopavlovic M, Zeigner A-K, Hardt J, Petrowski K. Forensic Dental Age Estimation: Development of New Algorithm Based on the Minimal Necessary Databases. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2022; 12(8):1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12081280
Chicago/Turabian StyleBjelopavlovic, Monika, Ann-Katrin Zeigner, Jochen Hardt, and Katja Petrowski. 2022. "Forensic Dental Age Estimation: Development of New Algorithm Based on the Minimal Necessary Databases" Journal of Personalized Medicine 12, no. 8: 1280. https://doi.org/10.3390/jpm12081280