Digitized morphometric analysis of dental pulp of permanent mandibular second molar for age estimation of Davangere population

Evaluation of radiographic visibility of root pulp in mandibular second molars using cone beam computed tomography images for age estimation

The purpose of this study is to estimate chronological age and determine whether individuals were aged under or over 18 years using root pulp visibility (RPV) in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) images. The study included CBCT images of 699 individuals aged between 15 and 75 years. One thousand twenty-three mandibular second molar (2M) teeth were evaluated using Olze's RPV method in four stages. Descriptive statistics of the stages and the relationship between the stages and the chronological age were assessed. The distribution of the stages was analyzed according to the 18-year age threshold. There was a positive correlation between RPV stages and chronological ages in both sexes. For females and males, the mean ages of stage 0, stage 1, and stage 2, for females and males, were found as 27.21, 28.93, and 33.68 years, and 37.69, 40.9, and 44.88 years, respectively. Stage 0 and stage 1 were found both in individuals aged under and over 18 years, and stage 2 and stage 3 were not observed in individuals aged under 18 years. The presence of stage 2 and stage 3 may be an indication that an individual is aged over 18 years according to Olze's RPV age estimation method. For more reliable results, 2M teeth should be examined bilaterally in forensic science.

A systematic overview of dental methods for age assessment in living individuals: from traditional to artificial intelligence-based approaches

Dental radiographies have been used for many decades for estimating the chronological age, with a view to forensic identification, migration flow control, or assessment of dental development, among others. This study aims to analyse the current application of chronological age estimation methods from dental X-ray images in the last 6 years, involving a search for works in the Scopus and PubMed databases. Exclusion criteria were applied to discard off-topic studies and experiments which are not compliant with a minimum quality standard. The studies were grouped according to the applied methodology, the estimation target, and the age cohort used to evaluate the estimation performance. A set of performance metrics was used to ensure good comparability between the different proposed methodologies. A total of 613 unique studies were retrieved, of which 286 were selected according to the inclusion criteria. Notable tendencies to overestimation and underestimation were observed in some manual approaches for numeric age estimation, being especially notable in the case of Demirjian (overestimation) and Cameriere (underestimation). On the other hand, the automatic approaches based on deep learning techniques are scarcer, with only 17 studies published in this regard, but they showed a more balanced behaviour, with no tendency to overestimation or underestimation. From the analysis of the results, it can be concluded that traditional methods have been evaluated in a wide variety of population samples, ensuring good applicability in different ethnicities. On the other hand, fully automated methods were a turning point in terms of performance, cost, and adaptability to new populations.

Age estimation in the living: A scoping review of population data for skeletal and dental methods

Age estimation of living individuals has become a crucial part of the forensic practice, especially due to the global increase in cross-border migration. The low rate of birth registration in many countries, hence of identification documents of migrants, especially in Africa and Asia, highlights the importance of reliable methods for age estimation of living individuals. Despite the fact that a number of skeletal and dental methods for age estimation have been developed, their main limitation is that they are based on specific reference samples and there is still no consensus among researchers on whether these methods can be applied to all populations. Though this issue remains still unsolved, population information at a glance could be useful for forensic practitioners dealing with such issues. This study aims at presenting a scoping review and mapping of the current situation concerning population data for skeletal (hand-wrist and clavicle) and dental methods (teeth eruption and third molar formation) for age estimation in the living. Two hundred studies on the rate of skeletal maturation and four hundred thirty-nine on the rate of dental maturation were found, covering the period from 1952 and 2020 for a total of ninety-eight countries. For most of the western and central African countries there are currently no data on the rate of skeletal and dental maturation. The same applies to the countries of the Middle East, as well as the eastern European countries, especially as regard the skeletal development.

Thoracoabdominal motion in newborns: Reliability between two interactive computing environments

BACKGROUND

Quantifying the chest wall is useful in documenting thoracoabdominal synchrony during the neonatal period. Subjective measures are often used rather than gold-standard methods due to their practicality in clinical practice. The aim of the present study is to compare the reliability between a newly proposed method (video analysis in MATLAB) and image analysis using AutoCad tools, both applied to assess thoracoabdominal motion in newborns (NBs).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is an observational cross-sectional study of full-term NBs. A digital camera was used to film thoracoabdominal motion for 2 minutes in the supine position, with movements measured by the two aforementioned methodologies.

RESULTS

A total of 139 images were used, showing agreement between AutoCAD and MATLAB (BIAS = -1.68; CI = -6.59:3.22, Bland-Altman plot).

CONCLUSION

The programs were interchangeable and the routine developed in MATLAB was simpler and faster, allowing dynamic analysis and suggesting its clinical utility in quantifying respiratory motion in NBs.

Age estimation in adults by dental imaging assessment systematic review

IMPORTANCE

The need to rely on proper, simple, and accurate methods for age estimation in adults is still a world-wide issue. It has been well documented that teeth are more resistant than bones to the taphonomic processes, and that the use of methods for age estimation based on dental imaging assessment are not only less invasive than those based on osseous analysis, but also have shown similar or superior accuracy in adults.

OBJECTIVES

To summarise the results of some of the recently most recently cited methods for dental age estimation in adults, based on odontometric dental imaging analysis, to establish which is more accurate, accessible, and simple.

EVIDENCE REVIEW

A literature search from several databases was conducted from January 1995 to July 2016 with previously defined inclusion criteria.

CONCLUSION

Based on the findings of this review, it could be possible to suggest pulp/tooth area ratio calculation from first, upper canines and other single rooted teeth (lower premolars, upper central incisors), and a specific statistical analysis that considers the non-linear production of secondary dentine with age, as a reliable, easy, faster, and predictable method for dental age estimation in adults. The second recommended method is the pulp/tooth width-length ratio calculation. The use of specific population formulae is recommended, but to include data of individuals from different groups of population in the same analysis is not discouraged. A minimum sample size of at least 120 participants is recommended to obtain more reliable results. Methods based on volume calculation are time consuming and still need improvement.