title: To evaluate the utility of smaller sample sizes when assessing dental maturity curves for forensic age estimation.
abstract: Dental maturation and chronological age estimation were determined from 144 healthy Western Australian individuals aged 3.6-14.5 years. The results were compared with Farah et al.'s previous study which comprised a larger heterogeneous sample of Western Australian individuals (n = 1450). Orthopantomograms were analyzed with the application of Demirjian and Goldstein's 4-tooth method based on eight stages of dental mineralization. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in dental maturity scores in each age group among the males in both studies; similar results were seen in the females. Paired t-tests showed no statistical significance overall between chronological and estimated ages for the males in our sample (p = 0.181), whereas the females showed significant differences (p < 0.001). Our results show that smaller samples may be used when assessing dental maturity curves for forensic age estimation.
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomy and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia. sara.flood@uwa.edu.au
authors.forename: Sara J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Flood
authors.forename: Warren J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Mitchell
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Oxnard
authors.forename: Berwin A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Turlach
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McGeachie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005553:Forensic Dentistry; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D018401:Sample Size; D014074:Tooth Calcification