Third molar development: evaluation of nine tooth development registration techniques for age estimations

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Dental Age Estimation

Background:

• Accurate age estimation in subadults is crucial for forensic and anthropological studies.
• Third molar development is a widely used indicator for dental age assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare nine different third molar development registration techniques.
• To identify the most promising technique for subadult age estimation using panoramic radiographs.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 1199 panoramic radiographs to register third molar development.
• Application of nine distinct registration techniques (GH, HV, DM, RA, GK, HN, KU, MO, CA).
• Development of regression models to predict age based on third molar development stages.

Main Results:

• The Moorrees (MO) technique demonstrated the highest R-squared values (51% female, 45% male) and lowest root mean squared error (3.42 years female, 3.67 years male).
• Differences in predictive accuracy between the tested techniques were generally small.
• The number of developmental stages used in a technique had a slight impact on age prediction accuracy.

Conclusions:

• The Moorrees (MO) technique appears to be the most reliable method among those evaluated for subadult age estimation via third molar development.
• While MO showed superior performance, other techniques also provide reasonable age estimations.
• Further research may explore optimizing staging systems to enhance predictive accuracy.