Validity Comparison of Three Dental Methods for Age Estimation Based on Tooth Root Translucency

Age estimation of nonliving subjects plays a very important role in identifying human remains. When adult remains are in question, this process becomes even more complex. Among the numerous dental methods that exist for adults aging, the evaluation of root translucency is one of the most useful. This study studies the correlation between age and root translucency by investigating monoradicular teeth affected by pathological processes using the equations proposed by Lamendin, Prince & Ubelaker and from Singhal et al. The average age values calculated according to the three methods were compared with the values of known age. Age estimation using the Student's t-test resulted as more accurate in the methods by Singhal et al. and by Prince & Ubelaker, with respect to that of Lamendin. Age estimation based solely on the percentage of radicular dentinal translucency has been found to be more accurate when diseased teeth are involved.