Assessment of Chronological Age through Mandibular Third Molar Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65293/jbkcd.v2i02.27Keywords:
Chronological Age, Mandibular Third Molar, Age Estimation, Forensic Dentistry, Dental DevelopmentAbstract
Objective: This study evaluates the predictive ability of mandibular third molar development stages in estimating chronological age.
Study Design: A cross-sectional study
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Sardar Begum Dental College, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan; from January 2023 to June 2023
Materials and Methods: A total of 180 people (95 males, 85 females) aged 13 to 25 years were evaluated for the developmental stages of mandibular third molars. Descriptive statistics examined the distribution of age, sex, and molar stages, whereas inferential statistics, encompassing linear regression and correlation analysis, assessed the relationship between molar development and chronological age.
Results: Linear regression analysis demonstrated that molar development stage strongly predicted age (β = 1.25, p < 0.001, R² = 0.72), accounting for 72% of the variability in age attributed to molar maturation. The accuracy of age estimation was 88.3%, with peak accuracy noted in early (phases A–C) and late (Stages F–H) developmental phases, but transitional stages (D and E) exhibited marginally reduced accuracy. Sex was not a significant predictor (p = 0.135), suggesting that molar development exhibits a comparable pattern in both males and females. These data validate the robust predictive capacity of mandibular third molar growth for estimating chronological age.
Conclusion: The growth of mandibular third molars serves as a dependable indicator of chronological age, demonstrating great precision across various age demographics. These results endorse its utilization in forensic and dental age assessment.
References
1. Ahmad I, Ullah W, Shah S, Khattak A. Risk factors of cleft lip and palate among children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: a hospital-based study. Khyber Med Univ J. 2023;15(1):42–7.
2. Khalid A, Ameen S, Hussain S, Malik A. Association of parental consanguinity with congenital anomalies: a study from Lahore, Pakistan. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2021;31(10):1160–4.
3. Yousaf S, Zafar F, Khan M, Arshad A. Genetic risk factors of orofacial clefts: insights from a case-control study in Pakistani population. Pak J Med Sci. 2020;36(7):1572–7.
4. Kurniawan A, Chusida A, Atika N, Gianosa TK, Solikhin MD, Margaretha MS, et al. The applicable dental age estimation methods for children and adolescents in Indonesia. Int J Dent [Internet]. 2022;2022(1):6761476. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2022/6761476
5. Maltoni R, Ravaioli S, Bronte G, Mazza M, Cerchione C, Massa I, et al. Chronological age or biological age: What drives the choice of adjuvant treatment in elderly breast cancer patients? Transl Oncol [Internet]. 2022;15(1):101300. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tranon.2021.101300
6. Kapadia F, Stevens J, Silver D. Dental radiographs for age estimation in US asylum seekers: Methodological, ethical, and health issues. Am J Public Health [Internet]. 2020;110(12):1786–9. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305918
7. Švábová P, Soták M, Galis B, Kroupová P, Bundová L, Vojtušová A, et al. Dental age assessment based on developmental stages and maturity index of third molars for medico-legal purposes. Diagnostics (Basel) [Internet]. 2024;14(14):1559. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14141559
8. Melo M, Ata-Ali F, Ata-Ali J, Martinez Gonzalez JM, Cobo T. Demirjian and Cameriere methods for age estimation in a Spanish sample of 1386 living subjects. Sci Rep [Internet]. 2022;12(1):2838. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06917-x
9. Vedula P, Gannepalli A, Balla SB, Ch G, Bushra A, Ayinampudi BK. Root canal widths of mandibular molars in predicting the 18-year threshold: an orthopantomographic study in South India. Int J Legal Med. 2024;138(6):2499–506.
10. Shen S, Guo Y, Han J, Sui M, Zhou Z, Tao J. Predicting chronological age of 14 or 18 in adolescents: integrating dental assessments with machine learning. BMC Pediatr [Internet]. 2024;24(1):248. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12887-024-04722-1
11. Sadan N, Aderet N, Tagger-Green N, Ratson T, Laviv A. Age assessment through third molar developmental stages in children. Appl Sci. 2023;13(4).
12. Balla SB, Lingam S, Kotra A, P HR, P K, N NM, et al. New regression models for dental age estimation in children using third molar maturity index: A preliminary analysis testing its usefulness as reliable age marker. Leg Med (Tokyo) [Internet]. 2019;39:35–40. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2019.06.003
13. Akman H, Surme K, Cimen T, Ayyildiz H. Accuracy of different dental age estimation methods for determining the legal majority of 18 years in the Turkish population. Clin Oral Investig [Internet]. 2022;26(6):4537–47. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00784-022-04417-w
14. Oh S, Kumagai A, Kim S-Y, Lee S-S. Accuracy of age estimation and assessment of the 18-year threshold based on second and third molar maturity in Koreans and Japanese. PLoS One [Internet]. 2022;17(7):e0271247. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0271247
15. Caggiano M, Scelza G, Amato A, Orefice R, Belli S, Pagano S. Estimating the 18-year threshold with third molar radiographs in Southern Italy: accuracy and reproducibility of Demirjian method. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(16).
16. Bjelopavlovic M, Reder SR, Fritzen I, Brockmann MA, Hardt J, Petrowski K. Forensic age estimation: A multifactorial approach in a retrospective population study. Diagnostics (Basel) [Internet]. 2023;13(12). Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics13122029
17. Rolseth V, Mosdøl A, Dahlberg PS, Ding Y, Bleka Ø, Skjerven-Martinsen M, et al. Age assessment by Demirjian’s development stages of the third molar: a systematic review. Eur Radiol [Internet]. 2019;29(5):2311–21. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5761-z
18. Balgi P, Katge F, Singh S, Jayaraman J. Comparative assessment to determine the accuracy of Demirjian and DARLInG methods of dental age estimation in western Indian children. Leg Med (Tokyo) [Internet]. 2020;42(101629):101629. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.legalmed.2019.101629
19. Coelho J, Armelimalmiro P, Nunes T, Kato R, Garib D, Miguéis A. Sex and age biological variation of the mandible in Portuguese population: a forensic 3D analysis. Sci Justice. 2021;61(6):704–13.
20. Hostiuc S, Edison SE, Diaconescu I, Negoi I, Isaila OM. Accuracy of Demirjian’s method in assessing child age (2020): a meta-analysis. Leg Med. 2021;52.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Journal of Bacha Khan College of Dentistry
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
