title: The coronal pulp cavity index: a biomarker for age determination in human adults.
abstract: The correlation between reduction of the coronal pulp cavity and chronological age was examined in a sample of 846 intact teeth from 433 individuals of known age and sex. Panoramic (rotational) radiography was used to measure the height (mm) of the crown (CH = coronal height) and the height (mm) of the coronal pulp cavity (CPCH = coronal pulp cavity height) of 425 premolars and 421 molars from 213 males and 220 females. The tooth-coronal index (TCI) after Ikeda et al. [1985] Jpn. J. For. Med. 39:244-250) was computed for each tooth and regressed on real age. The correlation coefficients ranged from -0.92 (molars, combined sample, right side) to -0.87 (female molars), with an S.E. of the estimate ranging from 5.88-6.66 years. Correlations were slightly higher in males than females. The equations obtained allowed estimation of age in a sample of 100 teeth from both sexes (not used for the regression) with an error of +/- 5 years in 81.4% of cases for male molars. The regression formulae for estimating age obtained from the recent sample were tested on a historical sample of 100 teeth from 100-year-old skeletons with an error of +/- 5 years in 70.3% of cases for male molars. This study illustrates the potential value of a little-known aging method which can be easily applied to estimate age in both living individuals and skeletal material of unknown age.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, Italy. drusini@civ.bio.unipd.it
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Drusini
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Toso
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ranzato
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology; D001641:Bicuspid / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015415:Biomarkers; D002648:Child; D003786:Dental Pulp Cavity / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008954:Models, Biological; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers