title: Age estimation by pulp/tooth ratio in lateral and central incisors by peri-apical X-ray.
abstract: Since 2004, several papers on the analysis of the apposition of secondary dentine have been published. The aim of this paper was to study a sample of peri-apical X-ray images of upper and lower incisors, both lateral and medial, to examine the application of pulp/tooth area ratio as an indicator of age. A sample of 116 individuals, 62 men and 54 women, aged between 18 and 74 years, was studied. Data were fitted with age as a linear function of the pulp/tooth ratio of incisors. The total variance explained by the regression equation ranged from 51.3% of age, when lower lateral incisors were used as explanatory variable, to 81.6% when upper lateral incisors were used. The accuracy of the corresponding regression model yielded ME = 8.44 and 5.34 years, respectively. These results show that, although incisors are less reliable than canines or lower premolars, they can be used to estimate age-at-death when the latter are absent.
authors.affiliation: AgEstimation Project, Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cameriere
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Wasterlain
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sassaroli
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pagliara
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nuzzolese
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cingolani
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrante
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D005553:Forensic Dentistry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010486:Periapical Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult