Age estimation of an individual by pulp/tooth ratio by maxillary lateral incisor using periapical radiographs (RVG)

Abstract

Aim: To estimate the age of an individual by pulp/tooth ratio by maxillary lateral incisor using periapical radiographs (RVG). Material and Methodology: The present study consists of randomly selected sample of 120 (60 males and 60 females) individuals [Graph 1], within the age group of 15–54 years grouped as: 15–24 years, 25–34 years, 35–44 years, and 45–54 years. After taking the informed consent from the patients, intraoral periapical radiographs were obtained from the patients. After exposure, the image was saved as a high-resolution JPEG file on a desktop computer and imported to the Adobe Photoshop CS6 image-editing software program for further measurements. Results: The results of the present study show that the pulp/tooth ratio of maxillary lateral incisor decreases as the age increases because of deposition of secondary dentin on the walls of pulp chamber with increase in age resulting in narrowing of the pulp chamber. The results shows that the correlation between age and pulp/tooth ratio was statistically significant (r = 0.807), (r2 = 0.652), and (P = 0.000). Conclusion: The maxillary lateral incisors and the application of the new regression formulae on data obtained from radiovisiography lead to accurate age estimation, if at least the selection criteria are respected and good quality radiovisiographs with clear radiological images are used.