Age estimation of unidentified corpses by measurement of root translucency

To evaluate the root dentine translucency technique for age analysis, age estimates carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin between 1998 and 2002 of unidentified corpses were subjected to retrospective review. Teeth suitable for evaluation were obtained from 33 corpses of undisputed identity. Root translucency was measured at intervals of half a millimetre. Appropriate reference studies were used to translate the measurements obtained into estimated age. In 18 cases these estimates proved correct. In 14 cases the deviation lay within +/-10 years. In one case of known drug abuse combined with diabetic metabolism, two factors which promote the advance of root translucency, the deviation was 12 years. It was concluded that the described technique, which requires little time and money and is easy to apply, can produce sound results in the middle age group (30-60). To avoid seriously inaccurate estimates in individual cases, the result should always be verified critically against an assessment of the overall stomatognathic system and other post-mortem findings of relevance to age.