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Related Concept Videos

Teeth01:15

Teeth

2.1K
The formation of teeth, also known as odontogenesis, is a complex process that begins in utero, around the sixth week of embryonic development. There are three stages to this process: the bud stage, the cap stage, and the bell stage.
In the bud stage, the tooth germ (an aggregation of cells) starts to form in the developing jawbone. During the cap stage, the tooth germ differentiates into enamel organ, dental papilla, and dental sac, which will later develop into the tooth's enamel, dentin...
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Updated: Mar 21, 2026

Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
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Validating Dental Histology for Perinatal Age Estimation Using Human Deciduous Teeth.

Ani Martirosyan1,2, Javier Irurita3, Assumpció Malgosa1,2

  • 1Biological Anthropology Unit, Department of Animal Biology, Plant Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Biosciences, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

American Journal of Biological Anthropology
|March 20, 2026
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Dental histology accurately estimates infant age after birth using deciduous teeth. The Neonatal Line (NNL) reliably indicates live birth, making this method valuable for forensic and bioarchaeological studies.

Keywords:
age estimationcrown formation timedeciduous teethdental histologyneonatal line

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Area of Science:

  • Paleoanthropology
  • Forensic Anthropology
  • Developmental Biology

Background:

  • Accurate age estimation in infants is crucial for forensic and bioarchaeological research.
  • Dental histology, analyzing microscopic structures in teeth, offers a potential method for precise age determination.
  • The Neonatal Line (NNL) is a distinct histological feature formed around birth, indicating live birth.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the accuracy of dental histology for perinatal age estimation in modern human infants.
  • To evaluate the reliability of enamel and dentin incremental structures, including the NNL, for chronological age assessment.
  • To determine the precision of age estimates derived from dental histology compared to known ages at death.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of 17 unerupted deciduous teeth from 14 full-term infants (0-164 days old).
  • Examination of thin tooth sections using transmitted light and confocal microscopy to identify incremental structures (NNL, cross-striations, von Ebner's lines).
  • Measurement of daily secretion rates (DSR) in enamel and dentin to calculate crown and root formation times (CFT, RFT).

Main Results:

  • Mean enamel DSR was 3.38 μm/day; mean root dentin DSR was 3.24 μm/day.
  • The NNL was consistently identified in infants surviving birth, confirming its utility as a live birth indicator.
  • Histologically derived ages showed a mean difference of only 1 day from the documented ages at death (range: -8 to +1 day).

Conclusions:

  • Deciduous dental histology provides a highly accurate method for estimating chronological age in human infants during the first year of life.
  • The reliability of the NNL as a marker for live birth is confirmed.
  • Dental histology is a valuable tool for perinatal age estimation in bioarchaeological and forensic applications.