• Journal of Korean Dental Science
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.31-50
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was to investigate the types of imaging modalities, analytical methods for age estimation, and the age of the subjects in research on age estimation using dental radiography through a scoping review, and to investigate the overall trends in age estimation studies. Materials and Methods: A scoping review was designed according to the Arksey and O'Malley guidelines and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement. Three electronic databases were used as search sources (Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library). Studies were classified according to the three main components of the research question. "What are the imaging modalities, analytical methods, and target age in dental imaging-based age estimation studies?" Result: The final 198 studies were selected by two reviewers. The most common imaging modality used in studies was panoramic radiography (69.7%), and studies using cone-beam computed tomography have increased over time. Analytical methods for age estimation were 62.6% in studies based on tooth development and 26.3% in studies using pulp/tooth ratio. The subject age was 27.8% for children and 27.3% for adults. Studies conducted in all age groups comprised the smallest category (5.2%). Conclusion: Panoramic radiography has been the most used types of imaging modalities for age estimation, and the most common analytical method was analysis of tooth development. Most studies targeted specific ages, and very few involved all age groups. Dental age estimation studies should be carried out with appropriate consideration of the imaging modality that is analyzed, the methods that are used, and the age that is targeted.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제40권4호
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• pp.146-154
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of present study was to develop a method for assessing the chronological age of Korean adults based on the relationship between age and size of pulp cavity using dental radiographs of mandibular first molars. Methods: A total of 325 dental radiographs of Korean adults with known age and gender were selected for the study (199 males and 126 females) which were taken in the period between January 2009 and June 2014 at the Pusan National University Dental Hospital. The measurements were carried out on both orthopantomographs (OPGs) and intraoral periapical radiographs of mandibular first molar and the following ratios were calculated: pulp chamber floor height ratio (F/L), pulp chamber ceiling height ratio (R/L), and pulp chamber depth ratio (D/L). Results: The ratios of measurements on intraoral periapical images of mandible first molar generally produce more reliable data than the measurements on OPGs. The pulp chamber floor height ratio and pulp chamber thickness ratio showed significant correlation with age, whereas the pulp chamber ceiling height ratios showed weak correlation with age. It was found that the best correlations between the ratios and age were found for pulp chamber thickness ratios (r=-0.731 to -0.751). The multiple regression models were derived using 3 ratios that were significantly correlated with age. The determination coefficients ($R^2$) of the models ranged from 0.556 to 0.596. Conclusions: Our results indicate that the pulp chamber thickness and pulp chamber floor height in mandibular first molar are an age-dependent variable in adults which can be used to estimate age with reasonable accuracy. The higher image quality of dental radiographs will probably narrow the age estimation error and improve dental age estimation.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• 제57권2호
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• pp.271-277
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• 2024

Human dentition is unique to individuals and helps in identification of individuals in forensic odontology. This study proposes to study the manually ground sections of single rooted teeth using digital methods for dental age estimation. To assess the dentinal translucency from the scanned digital images of manually ground section of teeth using commercially available image edition software. Corroborating the root dentinal translucency length and region of interest (ROI) of translucency zone in pixels (as a marker of dental age) with the chronological age of the subject, as stratified by different age groups. Twenty single-rooted extracted teeth from 20 patients each from 6 groups divided as per age. Manual sectioning of the teeth followed by scanning the sections was done. Root area in pixels and ROI of translucency zone were measured. From the observed values, translucency length percentage (TLP) and percentage of ROI in pixels (TPP) was calculated and tabulated. Pearson's correlation coefficients were obtained for age with TLP and TPP. Positive correlation existed between age and TLP and also between age and TPP. With the obtained data, multilinear regression equations for specific age groups based on 10-year intervals were derived. By a step-down analysis method, age was estimated with an average error of around ±7.9 years. This study gives a novel method for age-estimation that can be applied in real-time forensic sciences.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제39권4호
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• pp.119-126
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• 2014

This review provides an overview of the most commonly used dental age estimation techniques which focus on radiological methods in Korean adults. The literature from 1995 through July 31, 2014, was searched, using PubMed, for publications in English language. In PubMed, the keywords 'tooth' OR 'dental' AND 'pulp' AND 'age estimation' were searched. Inclusion criteria was comprised of the following: the subjects were living adults and dental radiography (excluded computed tomography [CT] and cone-beam CT) was used to measure the pulpal size. Twenty articles that met the criteria were selected. The method of age estimation using dental radiographs for measuring pulp and tooth size was represented in all studies. The methods were assorted into three categories generally; Kvaal's, Ikeda's and Cameriere's methods. Those methods had certain limitations such as large error range and low correlation coefficient depending on populations, type of employed teeth and particular method. Various techniques and many studies have been published for age estimation from human teeth using dental radiographs, but those techniques showed various predictability and reliability. Therefore, future studies on larger samples with well-distributed age group using not only existing techniques but new techniques are necessary for deriving convincing results.

• Anatomy and Cell Biology
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• 제56권4호
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• pp.474-481
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• 2023

The dental characteristics created by acquired dental treatments can be used as age estimators. This pilot study aimed to analyze the correlation between the number of teeth observed for dental characteristics and chronological age and to develop new non-invasive age estimation models. Dental features on panoramic radiographs (420 radiographs of subjects aged 20-89 years) were classified and coded. The correlation between the number of teeth for each selected code (codes V, X, T, F, P, and L) and age was observed, and multiple regression was performed to analyze the relationship between them. Eleven regression models with various combinations of dental sextants were presented. The model with the data from both sides of the posterior teeth on both jaws showed the best performance (root mean square error of 14.78 years and an adjusted R² of 0.461). The model with all teeth was the second-best. Based on these results, we confirmed statistically significant correlations between certain dental features and chronological age. We also observed that some regression models performed sufficiently well to be used as adjunctive methods in forensic practice. These results provide valuable information for the design and performance of future full-scale studies.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.101-110
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• 1981

For the purpose of an estimation of age based on the changes in the human dental cavity caused by increase in age, 1,208 extracted teeth in the parts from central incisors and lateral incisors and lateral incisors to second premolars of upper and lower, right and left side were evaluated and analized all of surface index of pulp cavity. The results are as follows : 1. The surface index of pulp caxities of upper and lower, central and lateral incisors, and tend to decrease regularly as the age increase. So above teeth are more applicable to age estimation than canine and premolars. 2 For the purpose of age estimation by surface index of pulp cavity of central and lateral incisor, linear equations are as follows. Upper central incisor: X=(16.301-Y)/0.12 Upper lateral incisor: X=(16.620-Y)/0.11 Lower central incisor: X=(20.963-Y)/0.16 X=Age Y=Surface index of pulp cavity Correlation coefficient between chronologic age and estimated age is 0.699 3.The least error(3.3 yrs of age)reveals in 41-45 age group, which shows the highest possibility of estimation of age. The highest error(4.1 yrs of age)reveals in 61-65 age group and 56-60 age group.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.91-99
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• 2023

Purpose: This systematic review aimed to investigate the correlation between chronological age and dental pulp volume in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: The literature was searched in 4 databases(PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar). Within each study, the outcome of interest was the correlation (r) between chronological age and pulp volume. A random-effect meta-analysis was conducted. Subgroup analysis was carried out according to sex and tooth type. Results: Of 5,693 identified studies, 27 fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were selected for meta-analysis. These articles focused on single-rooted teeth (n=21), multi-rooted teeth (n=6), maxillary teeth (n=14), mandibular teeth (n=6), and maxillary and mandibular teeth (n=12). The relationship between chronological age and dental pulp volume was examined in the entire population (r= -0.67), men (r= -0.75), and women (r= -0.77) in single- and multi-rooted teeth. The results of the total population analysis showed a relatively strong negative relationship between age and pulp volume. Conclusion: This study suggested that CBCT is a reliable and repeatable tool for dental age estimation. A strong inverse relationship was observed between pulp chamber volume and age. Further studies on the correlation between chronological age and pulp volume of multi-rooted teeth may be beneficial.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제46권4호
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• pp.125-130
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• 2021

Purpose: The dental age estimation of children is performed using dental maturity. Postmortem missing of the anterior teeth or the distortion of image of the anterior teeth in panoramic radiographs can make it difficult to analyze the development of the anterior teeth. This pilot study was conducted to derive a new age estimation method based only on the developmental stage of mandibular posterior teeth. Methods: This study was conducted using panoramic radiographs of 650 subjects aged 3 to 15 years old. The dental developmental stages of the lower left first premolar, second premolar, first molar and second molar were evaluated according to the Demirjian's criteria. The intra-/inter-observer reliability was evaluated, and multiple linear regression analyses were performed including the developmental stage of each tooth as an independent variable. Results: The intra-/inter-observer reliability was 0.9626 and 0.8877, respectively, and showed very high reproducibility. Multiple linear regression analyses were performed for males and females, and the age calculation table was derived by obtaining the intercept and the coefficient according to the development stage of each tooth. The coefficient of determination (r²) of the age calculation method was 0.9634 for male and 0.9570 for female subjects, and the mean difference between chronological age and estimated dental age was -0.42 and -0.21, respectively. Conclusions: This pilot study evaluated the developmental stages of four lower posterior teeth in the Korean group according to Demirjian's criteria, and derived age estimation method. The accuracy was lower than when more teeth were used, but it will be useful to estimate age of children when the anterior teeth are difficult to accurately analyze.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.19-26
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• 2019

Purpose: It has been proposed that using new prediction methods, such as neural networks based on dental data, could improve age estimation. This study aimed to assess the possibility of exploiting neural networks for estimating age by means of the pulp-to-tooth ratio in canines as a non-destructive, non-expensive, and accurate method. In addition, the predictive performance of neural networks was compared with that of a linear regression model. Materials and Methods: Three hundred subjects whose age ranged from 14 to 60 years and were well distributed among various age groups were included in the study. Two statistical software programs, SPSS 21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) and R, were used for statistical analyses. Results: The results indicated that the neural network model generally performed better than the regression model for estimation of age with pulp-to-tooth ratio data. The prediction errors of the developed neural network model were acceptable, with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 4.40 years and a mean absolute error (MAE) of 4.12 years for the unseen dataset. The prediction errors of the regression model were higher than those of the neural network, with an RMSE of 10.26 years and a MAE of 8.17 years for the test dataset. Conclusion: The neural network method showed relatively acceptable performance, with an MAE of 4.12 years. The application of neural networks creates new opportunities to obtain more accurate estimations of age in forensic research.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• 제39권2호
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• pp.69-77
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• 2014

Purpose: It aims to verify the applicability of existing age estimation methods derived from data of foreign population groups to Korean population groups. Moreover it is to suggest a new way applicable to practical age estimation on the basis of newly calculated regression formulae from data of Korean population groups and develop a subsidiarily applicable method to the existing method. Methods: Ratio of pulp cavity to dental crown was calculated by measuring the height and width of dental crowns and pulp cavities at the cervical line from 4,034 first and second upper molars, first and second upper premolars, first and second lower molars and first and second lower premolars on both left and right sides of 400 patients who had been treated in Dental Hospital of Yonsei University College of Dentistry, and regression equations were derived from the values of the ratio. Results: The equation with correlation coefficients the highest among females was as follows: age=$107.96-75.684{\times}{\sharp}17$ TCHI-$53.741{\times}{\sharp}26$ TCVI-$40.664{\times}{\sharp}45$ TCVI-$56.307{\times}{\sharp}46$ TCVI. Randomized anohter Korean female subjects (n=20) are applicated to the new equation. Mean of error of estimate is 10.322 years, standard deviation is 12.852 years. Minimum of error of estimate is 1.018 years, maximum is 21.365 years Conclusions: The error range of age estimation was found to be slightly wider when the existing regression formulae of Drusini were applied to Korean population groups. Also age estimation in females using the ratio of pulp cavity to dental crown measured with the length and width of dental crowns and pulp cavities from maxillomandibular molars was observed to have the highest reliability in the research. However, we consider that advanced equations of regression are needed to apply to both molars and premolars of males and females in the future.