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Age estimation from alveolar bone loss, re-evaluation of Ruquet’s method

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Abstract

There are many dental age estimation methods, but all the methods do not correspond, especially for aging methods for adults and mature individuals, to the reality of the forensic field, which favors simple, effective, and easy-to-use methods. Ruquet (2015) developed a method based on alveolar bone loss that predicts age for individuals between 25 and 60 years old and is even more accurate for those 25–40 years old. This study re-evaluated Ruquet’s alveolar bone loss method using three-dimensional imaging of individuals whose age and sex were known, without taking into account their medical conditions. Digital measurements, from the cemento-enamel junction (CEJ) to the alveolar bone crest (ABC), were performed on the mesial and distal surfaces of teeth on 243 patients, independent of the tridimensional imaging test. With these measurements, two alveolar bone loss averages (ABL) were calculated, one with all the teeth present on the arches and another with only Ramfjörd’s teeth. Bone loss showed a significant correlation with age (p < 0.001). The age estimation with all teeth and with only Ramfjörd’s teeth showed a statistically significant difference, and age estimation was more accurate when all teeth were used. The assessment of alveolar resorption appears to be an interesting tool for age estimation in adult individuals. However, the method still lacks precision, and the mean absolute errors (MAEs) obtained by age group were all greater than 5 years, except for the age group 35–39 years old, for the age estimation with all teeth. Further studies should explore this existing correlation between alveolar bone loss and age and refine this method to make it more accurate.

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Data Availability

All data of this study are included within this paper and its Supplementary Information files.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADÉS, faculté des sciences médicales et paramédicales, secteur Nord, bât. A, CS 80011, 51, bld Pierre-Dramard, F-13344, Marseille Cedex 15, France

    Auréliane Daluz, Bérengère Saliba-Serre, Bruno Foti & Romain Lan

  2. Assistance publique Hôpitaux de Marseille, CHU Timone, Pôle odontologie, 264 rue Saint Pierre, 13385, Marseille Cedex 5, France

    Bruno Foti & Romain Lan

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  1. Auréliane Daluz
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  2. Bérengère Saliba-Serre
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Correspondence to Auréliane Daluz.

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Daluz, A., Saliba-Serre, B., Foti, B. et al. Age estimation from alveolar bone loss, re-evaluation of Ruquet’s method. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 20, 79–88 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-023-00617-2

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