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Dental age estimation based on the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament in the lower third molars: application of a new stage classification

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Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to test whether a new stage classification based on radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament in lower third molars in a Chinese population can be used for the 18- and 21-year thresholds. A total of 1300 orthopantomograms, including equal numbers of northern Chinese males and females evenly distributed between the ages of 15 and 40 years, were analyzed. The stages were defined according to the visibility of periodontal ligament for the outer parts of lower third molar roots because the visibility status of the periodontal ligament between the roots of lower third molars is none valuable in many Chinese individuals. Stage 0 was first achieved at the age of 17.05 years in males and 17.46 years in females. The earliest appearance of stage 1 was 17.47 years in males and 17.86 years in females. Stage 2 was first observed in males at the age of 21.43 years and in females at the age of 21.96 years. The onset of stage 3 was first observed at the age of 25.83 years in males and 23.14 years in females. Compared with the stage classification of Olze et al., which also considers the mesial parts of the roots, the number of assessable cases could be significantly increased. Therefore, our novel approach is effective for age estimation in the Chinese population.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81701869, No.81430048, and No.81571859), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019 M653664), Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine (No. 17DZ2273200), and Shanghai Forensic Service Platform (No. 16DZ2290900).

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Author notes

  1. Yu-cheng Guo and Ya-hui Wang contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, 98 XiWu Road, Xi’an, 710004, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-cheng Guo

  2. Department of Orthodontics, Stomatological Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, 98 XiWu Road, Xi’an, 710004, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Yu-cheng Guo

  3. Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149, Münster, Germany

    Yu-cheng Guo, Sven Schmidt, Ronald Schulz, Heidi Pfeiffer & Andreas Schmeling

  4. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Shanghai Forensic Service Platform, Academy of Forensic Science, Shanghai, 200063, People’s Republic of China

    Ya-hui Wang

  5. Institute of Legal Medicine, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Turmstraße 21, 10559, Berlin, Germany

    Andreas Olze

  6. College of Medicine and Forensics, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, 76 West Yanta Road, Xi’an, 710004, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    Teng Chen

Authors
  1. Yu-cheng Guo
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  2. Ya-hui Wang
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  3. Andreas Olze
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  4. Sven Schmidt
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  5. Ronald Schulz
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  6. Heidi Pfeiffer
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  7. Teng Chen
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  8. Andreas Schmeling
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Teng Chen.

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Ethical approval was granted by the ethics committee of Stomatological Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study, formal consent is not required.

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Guo, Yc., Wang, Yh., Olze, A. et al. Dental age estimation based on the radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament in the lower third molars: application of a new stage classification. Int J Legal Med 134, 369–374 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02178-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-019-02178-y

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