title: Determining the age of cats by pulp cavity/tooth width ratio using dental radiography.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on the ratio of pulp cavity/tooth width (P/T ratio) in healthy cats. The dental radiographs of 32 cats (16 males and 16 females) were generated with a digital dental X-ray unit with the animals under general anesthesia. Standardized measurement of the canine teeth was performed by drawing a line on the radiograph perpendicular to the cemento- enamel junction (CEJ) of the tooth. There was an inversely proportional correlation between chronological age and the P/T ratio. Moreover, a strong Pearson squared correlation (γ(2) = 0.92) was identified by the curved regression model. No significant differences in the P/T ratio based on gender or breed were found. These results suggest that determination of age by P/T ratio could be clinically useful for estimating the chronological age of cats.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoungsun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jaesang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Sunmee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Euiri
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Soohyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sangwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sungwon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hyunwoo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Kangmoon
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Seo
mesh_terms: D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000502:physiology*; D003786:Dental Pulp Cavity / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*
keywords: age determination; age estimation; cats; dental radiograph; pulp cavity