Minor migrants' age estimation: Comparison of two dental methods

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Pediatric Dentistry

Background:

• Accurate age determination is vital for unaccompanied minors to access rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Discrepancies in age estimation impact legal fields like asylum, criminal liability, and child abuse cases.
• Limited data exists on the agreement between various age estimation techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantitatively and statistically assess the agreement between two dental methods for legal age definition.
• To provide practical recommendations for age estimation in legal contexts.
• To evaluate the reliability of dental age assessment for minors.

Main Methods:

• Dental age estimation was performed on 301 individuals using two distinct methods.
• Quantitative and statistical analyses were employed to determine method agreement.
• The study focused on individuals with disputed age, particularly minor migrants.

Main Results:

• A discrepancy was observed between the two dental methods in only 7 out of 301 cases.
• Statistical analysis indicated an almost perfect agreement between the methods.
• The findings support the interchangeability of the two dental methods for age assessment.

Conclusions:

• The two dental methods demonstrate high agreement and can be used interchangeably for legal age assessment.
• It is recommended to use both methods when the estimated age approaches the legal age of majority (18.5 years).
• This research provides a reliable approach to age determination for legal and humanitarian purposes.