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Dental age estimation based on pulp chamber/crown volume ratio measured on CBCT images in a Spanish population

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Abstract

Dental age estimation in living individuals is one of the most frequent requests undertaken by forensic odontologists. The aim of this study was to estimate the dental age by pulp/tooth volume ratio, as measured on cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) images, in a Spanish population. This study included 313 teeth from 107 adult individuals, 56 females and 51 males with a mean age of 44 ± 14 years. The statistical analysis of the results took account of clustering (multiple teeth in individuals). Linear regression models were constructed on the relationship between pulp/tooth volume ratio and chronological age for each tooth type. The highest coefficient of determination (R2) value was provided by the upper incisors (36.6%), and the difference between chronological and estimated age was less than 5 years in 31.3% of the sample and less than 10 years for 65.7%. CBCT is an accurate imaging technique to measure dental volume with a relatively low radiation dose, and it can be used to assess dental age in living adult individuals. Volumetric changes in the pulp cavity with increasing age proved valuable to estimate dental age in this Spanish population.

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Funding

This study is partially supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain (PRX19/00369).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Malaga, 29071, Malaga, Spain

    Ana Molina & Stella Martín-de-las-Heras

  2. Department of Preventive and Community Dentistry, University of Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Manuel Bravo

  3. Centro de Investigación en Odontología Legal y Forense (CIO), Facultad de Odontología, Universidad de la Frontera, Temuco, Chile

    Gabriel M. Fonseca

  4. Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Shrivenham, SN6 8LA, UK

    Nicholas Márquez-Grant

Authors
  1. Ana Molina
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  2. Manuel Bravo
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  3. Gabriel M. Fonseca
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  4. Nicholas Márquez-Grant
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  5. Stella Martín-de-las-Heras
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stella Martín-de-las-Heras.

Ethics declarations

High standard of ethics according to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki was applied in all investigations described in the manuscript. The research project was approved by the Granada University Ethics Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Highlights

Chronological age was related to pulp chamber/crown volume ratio in a Spanish population.

Upper incisor ratios revealed the strongest correlation.

The pulp chamber/crown volume ratio explained 36.6% of the age variability.

The difference between chronological and dental age was < 5 years in 31.3% of the sample.

This method of dental age estimation is gender independent.

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Molina, A., Bravo, M., Fonseca, G.M. et al. Dental age estimation based on pulp chamber/crown volume ratio measured on CBCT images in a Spanish population. Int J Legal Med 135, 359–364 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02377-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-020-02377-y

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