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Cameriere’s third molar maturity index in assessing age of majority: a study of a French sample

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Abstract

Forensic age estimation is a challenging field in forensic sciences because of the increase of migratory flows. Medicolegal age assessment is a key point because it has many implications for authorities. Dental age estimation is an essential part of the global age assessment. The aim of this study was to evaluate and test the accuracy of Cameriere’s cutoff values of the third molar maturity index (I3M) in assessing legal adult age of 18 years in a French population. The sample was constituted of 431 orthopantomograms performed between January 2014 and August 2017 on patients aged between 14 and 22 years. The reproducibility and repeatability of the method were high. Age distribution gradually decreases as I3M increases in both sexes. 0.08 seemed to be the best I3M cutoff. For females, the sensitivity and specificity of the test were 74.51% and 88.23%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity for males were 92.19% and 88.35%, respectively. The accuracies were 80.74% for female, 90.57% for male. Estimated post-test probabilities were 0.879 for female and 0.899 for male. To conclude, the specific cutoff value of I3M ˂ 0.08 may be a useful additional tool in discriminating adults and minors in French population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Médico-Légal, Hôpital Trousseau, CHRU Tours, 37044, Tours cedex 9, France

    Léo Ribier, Pauline Saint-Martin, Mélanie Seignier & Camille Rérolle

  2. Service de Radiologie Adulte, CHRU Tours, 37044, Tours cedex 9, France

    Léo Ribier & Laurent Brunereau

  3. Service de Chirurgie Maxillo-Faciale et Stomatologie, CHRU Tours, 37044, Tours cedex 9, France

    Arnaud Paré

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  1. Léo Ribier
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  2. Pauline Saint-Martin
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Correspondence to Camille Rérolle.

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This retrospective study performed on anonymized non pathological radiological data was conducted in accordance with the ethical standards of the country and the local committee.

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Ribier, L., Saint-Martin, P., Seignier, M. et al. Cameriere’s third molar maturity index in assessing age of majority: a study of a French sample. Int J Legal Med 134, 783–792 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02123-z

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