title: Measurement of open apices in tooth roots in Colombian children as a tool for human identification in asylum and criminal proceedings.
abstract: Dental age estimation was recognized as an imperative issue in clinical and medico-legal practice. However, very few studies on dental age estimation in children have been published in Colombia. This study evaluated the accuracy of Cameriere's method of measurement of open apices on tooth roots in a sample of 526 digital panoramic radiographs (OPTs) of children (274 boys and 252 girls), aged between 6 and 14 years, from Bogotá, Valle del Cauca, Buga and Villavicencio, in Southwest Colombia. Only first seven permanent lower teeth, except third molar, from the left side of mandible were studied. Difference between dental age and chronological age was evaluated for boys and girls across nine age classes. Intra-class correlation coefficient and Kappa score was used to test intra- and inter-observer agreement error rate. Dental age was overestimated by 0.08 years and standard deviation (±SD) of 0.68 years in boys which was not statistically significant (p = 0.06), while in girls dental age underestimated by -0.25 ± 0.65 years which was statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). The absolute difference between DA and CA or mean prediction error (ME) was 0.57 ± 0.38 years in boys and 0.57 ± 0.41 in girls (p = 0.966) which implies that Cameriere's European formula is similarly accurate in both sexes in this sample of Colombian children.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, Cali, Colombia.
authors.forename: Marcela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.affiliation: Unidad Especial de Identificación Forense, Servicio Médico Legal, Santiago de Chile, Chile; AgEstimation Project, Institute of Legal Medicine, Macerata, Italy. Electronic address: sdeluca@sml.gob.cl.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aguilar
authors.affiliation: Carrera 74 #55-05, Normandia II, 111071, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Luz Andrea
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Velandia Palacio
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Split, Spinčićeva 2, Split, Croatia.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Galić
authors.affiliation: AgEstimation Project, Institute of Legal Medicine, Macerata, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cameriere
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D002648:Child; D003105:Colombia; D019229:Dentition, Permanent; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019252:Radiography, Dental, Digital; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D019227:Tooth Apex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development
keywords: Cameriere's European formula; Chronological age; Colombia; Dental age; Forensic sciences; Open apices