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Expressing Uncertainty in Dental Age Estimation: A Comparison between Two Methods of Calculating the "Average"
Derek Draft1, Victoria S Lucas2, Fraser McDonald2
1Department of Pathology, Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI.
Journal of Forensic Sciences
|April 2, 2019
Summary
Calculating uncertainty in dental age estimation requires weighting standard deviation by subject count per stage. This method reveals a significantly greater range of uncertainty, improving accuracy for unknown ages.
Area of Science:
- Forensic Anthropology
- Odontology
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Uncertainty in standard deviation (sd) is crucial for accurate dental age estimation.
- Current methods often use unweighted sd, potentially underestimating the true range of uncertainty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of weighting standard deviation calculations by subject count on dental age estimation uncertainty.
- To compare the range of uncertainty between weighted and unweighted standard deviation methods.
Main Methods:
- Standard deviation (sd) calculation for dental age estimation was weighted by the number of subjects in each tooth development stage.
- A comparative analysis was performed between weighted and unweighted sd methods.
Main Results:
- The range of uncertainty for dental age estimation was statistically significantly greater (p < 0.001) when using the weighted sd compared to the unweighted sd.
- Weighting the sd calculation by subject count provides a more comprehensive measure of uncertainty.
Conclusions:
- The number of subjects per tooth development stage must be incorporated into the simple average method for dental age estimation.
- Including subject counts in sd calculations enhances the accuracy of uncertainty estimates for individual dental age assessments.
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