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Reliability of aspartic acid racemization rate for chronological age estimation-a systematic review and meta-analysis
Jyotirmoy Roy1, Jayakumar Jayaraman2, Abraham Johnson3
1Laboratory of Forensic Odontology, School of Forensic Science, National Forensic Sciences University, Gujarat, India.
Objective:
The biochemical approach of dental age using aspartic acid racemization has been widely reported. The aim of this systematic review was to determine the reliability and accuracy of dental age estimation using aspartic acid racemization rate analysis.
Design:
Eight research databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, Embase, Cochrane, MEDLINE, TRIP, Web of Science, and Scopus) were utilised to gather and assess published literatures in compliance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and reported in PROSPERO (CRD42020208877). This systematic review and meta-analysis focused solely on cross-sectional studies. The quality evaluation was performed using the GRADE system. The standardized mean difference between estimated and chronological age was meta-analyzed using the random effects model.
Result:
The literature review yielded 213 studies, of which 26 were considered acceptable for inclusion in this report. Out of 26 studies, 19 presented sufficient evidence for meta-analysis and the remaining 7 were used to construct a qualitative review. According to the meta-analysis, premolar-related studies had the least variability (Tau2 = 0.23; I2 = 72%) among other tooth groups.
Conclusion:
A substantial degree of heterogeneity was found in every type of tooth. Only the premolar teeth had lower degree variability; thus, it is safe to believe that the premolar tooth is the best for this type of age estimation. It is recommended to develop population-specific mathematical equations to improve the accuracy of this age estimation approach.
