title: Studies of the chronological course of wisdom tooth eruption in a Black African population.
abstract: The importance of forensic age estimation in living subjects has grown over the last few years. In dental age estimation, tooth eruption is a parameter of developmental morphology that can be analyzed by either clinical examination or by evaluation of dental X-rays. In the present study, we determined the stage of wisdom tooth eruption in 410 male and 106 female Black South African subjects of known age (12-26 years) based on radiological evidence from 516 conventional orthopantomograms. Four eruption stages were determined (no emergence, alveolar emergence, gingival emergence, complete emergence). Statistical scores were determined for the individual stages separately for both sexes. The data presented here can be utilized for forensic estimation of the minimum and most probable ages of investigated persons.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Rechtsmedizin, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Turmstrasse 21, 10559 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olze
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Niekerk
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schmeling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D044383:Black People; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000254:growth & development*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D013019:South Africa; D014078:Tooth Eruption