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Published on: February 23, 2024
Predicting chronological age of 14 or 18 in adolescents: integrating dental assessments with machine learning
Shihui Shen1, Yibo Guo1, Jiaxuan Han1
1Department of General Dentistry, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine; College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; National Center for Stomatology; National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology; Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology, Shanghai, China.
Aim:
Age estimation plays a critical role in personal identification, especially when determining compliance with the age of consent for adolescents. The age of consent refers to the minimum age at which an individual is legally considered capable of providing informed consent for sexual activities. The purpose of this study is to determine whether adolescents meet the age of 14 or 18 by using dental development combined with machine learning.
Methods:
This study combines dental assessment and machine learning techniques to predict whether adolescents have reached the consent age of 14 or 18. Factors such as the staging of the third molar, the third molar index, and the visibility of the periodontal ligament of the second molar are evaluated.
Results:
Differences in performance metrics indicate that the posterior probabilities achieved by machine learning exceed 93% for the age of 14 and slightly lower for the age of 18.
Conclusion:
This study provides valuable insights for forensic identification for adolescents in personal identification, emphasizing the potential to improve the accuracy of age determination within this population by combining traditional methods with machine learning. It underscores the importance of protecting and respecting the dignity of all individuals involved.
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