Abstract
BackgroundIn the field of forensic dentistry, various radiographic techniques have been used for age estimation. The coronal pulp cavity index (CPCI) indicates a reduction in the pulp chamber with age as a result of secondary dentin deposition.MethodsThe study was conducted on 416 radiovisiographs (RVGs) with the aim to correlate CPCI with chronological age. Digital dental radiographs of four teeth from every subject were taken after written consent. Teeth selected for RVGs in the present study were maxillary canine, maxillary second premolar, mandibular canine, and mandibular first premolar. Two linear measurements were taken for each tooth: one was the tooth crown height (CH) and the second was the coronal pulp height (CPH). Coronal pulp cavity index was calculated for each tooth.ResultsData was statistically analyzed. ANOVA was used to show the strength of the relation between CPCI and chronological age. This study represents the first pilot investigation of this method in a Haryana population. A strong negative linear relationship was found between CPCI and chronological age.ConclusionAge of an individual can be estimated with a good degree of accuracy using population and sex-specific regression equations. The maxillary second premolar was reported as the most reliable indicator of age in both males as well as females.
Highlights
In the field of forensic dentistry, various radiographic techniques have been used for age estimation
The results of the present study suggests that coronal pulp cavity index (CPCI) of all the selected teeth demonstrated a strong negative correlation with chronological age which is in accordance with previous studies directed by Drusini, Ikeda et al, Paewinsky et al, and Igbigbi et al (Drusini et al 1997; Ikeda et al 1985; Igbigbi and Nyirenda, 2005; Paewinsky et al 2005)
No exceptionally huge impact of sex was accounted on age estimation using CPCI method; our study found the correlation of CPCI with age is higher in males than in females irrespective of the tooth type which is supported by the results of previous study conducted by Drusini (Table 2)
Summary
In the field of forensic dentistry, various radiographic techniques have been used for age estimation. Individualization of a person is a key goal in forensic science. Forensic age estimation may be many times necessary in living persons in criminal and civil cases when the individual is either unwilling or unable to reveal his identity (Lewis and Senn 2010; Rai et al 2010). Most systems for age estimation rely on the bones and teeth (Ferenandes et al 2011). These different methods offer prevalent outcomes (Ge et al 2015, 2016).
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