Adult age estimation from dental pulp in jouf population: A digital radiographic study

Abstract

Aim: To develop an independent, noninvasive procedure for age estimation (AE) in the Saudi population using mandibular first molar tooth (MFM) by digital panoramic radiographs. To determine and compare the accuracy of pulp/tooth ratio method in MFM tooth in forensic AE. Materials and methods: A total of 120 digital orthopantomographs (OPG) of the Saudi population were studied. The measurements of pulp chamber height (PCH) and crown root trunk height (CRTH) were performed on the MFM teeth. The acquired data was subjected to correlation and regression analysis. Results: The pulp chamber crown root trunk height ratio (PCTHR) of the studied age groups were (0.365), (0.561), (0.040), and (0.002) respectively for (21–30 years), (31–40 years), (41–50 years), and (51–60 years) age groups, significantly correlated with the age of the individual. Individual regression formulae derived were tested on control age groups to calculate the age. The standard errors estimate (SEE) for the control age groups were (26.09 ± 1.43), (37.61 ± 1.08), (45.66 ± 0.18) and (55.85 ± 0.60) respectively. There was no statistically significant age difference between chronological and calculated age. Conclusion: An independent, noninvasive and cost-effective procedure was developed which employed, PCH was found to be fairly accurate to perform forensic age prediction in Saudi populations. Clinical significance: Accurate AE from MFM tooth is possible in the Saudi population.