Assessment of age using physiological methods: dentin deposition versus tooth wear: A cross-sectional study

Age is a crucial factor in identifying a person in forensic medicine. Dentition is one of the physiological indicators of chronological age. Radiographic dental age assessment is a simple, noninvasive and reproducible method. Age estimation is also done by evaluating tooth wear. To assess and compare morphological parameters of maxillary central incisors evaluated on radiographs using Kvaal's method with occlusal wear of posterior teeth using Kim's method in age estimation. A total of 50 individuals from 20 to 70 years of both genders were included. Radiographic analysis and occlusal tooth wear were calculated based on Kvaal's method and Kim's scoring criteria, respectively. The mean predicted age of the patient through radiographic analysis by Kvaal's method was 44.762. In contrast, the mean predicted age through occlusal tooth wear analysis of posterior teeth by Kim's scoring system was 44.842. Furthermore, the difference from the population mean age was 0.002 for radiographic analysis by Kvaal's method and 0.081 by occlusal tooth wear analysis by Kim's system. The result infers radiographic analysis by Kvaal's method was more accurate than occlusal tooth wear analysis by Kim's system in age estimation.