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Effectiveness of Bang and Ramm’s formulae in age assessment of Indians from dentin translucency length

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Abstract

Age assessment may be a crucial step in postmortem profiling leading to confirmative identification. Among the traditional dental parameters used for estimating age, root dentin translucency is considered to be least affected by external stimuli and most suitable for the purpose. Using this variable, Bang and Ramm in 1970 developed an elaborate method and formulae for predicting age in Norwegians, and its efficacy has been examined in Indians. A total of 100 tooth sections 250-µm thick were obtained from as many subjects, scanned on a flat-bed scanner and the translucency length measured using a commercially available image-editing software program. Since age estimates in Indians was less accurate compared to the original sample, translucency measurements were subjected to regression analysis, and India-specific formulae were derived. The new formula was applied to a control group (n = 18), and the estimated age was marginally better, validating to some extent the use of population-specific formulae in forensic age estimation. However, moderate correlation of translucency length to age inherent in Indians may undermine optimal age prediction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors express their gratitude to Prof. C. Bhasker Rao, Principal, for his continued support to research in forensic odontology and approving an institutional grant for the study. We wish to thank Prof. Sadashiva Shetty for subsidized access to the hard-tissue microtome at his institution (Bapuji Dental College, Davangere, India). We acknowledge Prof. M. V. Muddapur’s guidance in statistical nuances and thank Drs. Anand Tavargeri and Kiran Radder for providing some of the extracted teeth from their private practices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Odontology, SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dhavalnagar, Sattur, 580009, Dharwad, India

    Ashith B. Acharya

  2. Department of Oral Pathology, SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dhavalnagar, Sattur, 580009, Dharwad, India

    S. Vimi

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  1. Ashith B. Acharya
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  2. S. Vimi
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Correspondence to Ashith B. Acharya.

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Acharya, A.B., Vimi, S. Effectiveness of Bang and Ramm’s formulae in age assessment of Indians from dentin translucency length. Int J Legal Med 123, 483–488 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-009-0346-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-009-0346-7

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