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Radiographic assessment of third molar development in a Russian population to determine the age of majority
Raquel Porto Alegre Valente Franco1, Ademir Franco2, Anna Turkina3
1Department of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil; Department of Stomatology, Public Health and Forensic Odontology, School of Dentistry of Ribeirão Preto, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil.
Objective:
To test the applicability of "Gleiser and Hunt dental staging system modified by Kohler" (GHK) to assess third molar (3 M) development in a Russian population in order to determine the age of majority.
Design:
The sample consisted of 918 panoramic radiographs from Russian females (n = 551) and males (n = 367) within the age interval between 8 and 23 years. On each radiograph, 3 M development was classified based on the GHK technique. Statistics tested the data for normality. Mean age and standard deviation were described for each 3 M position. Ordinal logistic regression tested the performance of the technique to classify individuals below or above the 18-year threshold. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were used.
Results:
The mean ages and standard deviation (SD) for apex closure in females were 21,11 (SD = 1,47), 21,11 (SD = 1,43), 21,24 (SD = 1,39), and 21,29 (SD = 1,28) years for the teeth #18, 28, 38, and 48, respectively. Among males, the same teeth showed mean closure ages of 20,57 (SD = 1,69), 20,64 (SD = 1,76), 20,68 (SD = 1,68), and 20,81 (SD = 1,62) years, respectively. Area under the curve (AUC) reached 0.904 and 0.915 for classifying females and males below or above the 18-year threshold.
Conclusion:
The GHK technique was able to describe 3 M development in a Russian population. The statistic model was able to classify individuals below or above the 18-year threshold. However, the outcomes must be carefully interpreted, especially in borderline cases (17-19-year spectrum).
