Abstract
Currently, human identification is a challenge. Migration due to war, economic crisis or other factors is frequent. The wisdom teeth are the last teeth to initiate and complete development therefore, are fundamental for determining the legal age of majority in different countries. The aim of the study is to determine the validity of two methods based on mineralisation of the third molar to predict the ages of majority of individuals in a Spanish population. Orthopantomographies of 636 men and 750 women (mean age, 16.5 years) were analysed. The Demirjian and Cameriere methods were used, and each tooth was assigned a value according to the degree of mineralisation and maturation. The level of significance used in the analyses was 5% (α = 0.05), with a power of 96.2%. The predictive ability of the Demirjian method to determine 18 years of age in the lower wisdom teeth 93%, respectively. The Cameriere method has a predictive capacity of 88%. There are no statistically significant differences between men and women. Stage H and a cut-off point of 0.08 were the guiding values for determining the age of majority of the study population. For other proposed age ranges (14 and 16 years), both methods were useful in determining the actual age of individuals, with the Demirjian method having a sensitivity of 97.5% with and Cameriere having a predictive capacity of 95%. Both methods can be used with high reliability to determine the age of individuals where reliable documentation is unavailable. Stage H with the Demirjian method and a cut-off point of 0.08 with the Cameriere method can determine the age of majority of the Spanish population. The combination of the two methods does not substantially increase predictive ability.
Highlights
Several methods are available for determining the actual age of an individual, including those based on different stages of bone maturation, which have been proposed by different authors such as Fishman[4], Björk[5], or Bacetti[6]
The aim of the study is to determine the validity of Demirjian and Cameriere methods to predict the ages of individuals in Spanish population
The intra-examiner reproducibility is higher for Demirjian (0.875) than Cameriere method (0.81)
Summary
For other proposed age ranges (14 and 16 years), both methods were useful in determining the actual age of individuals, with the Demirjian method having a sensitivity of 97.5% with and Cameriere having a predictive capacity of 95%. Both methods can be used with high reliability to determine the age of individuals where reliable documentation is unavailable. The following stages (E–H) range from the beginning of root formation to apical c losure[12] This method tends to overestimate the actual age of individuals[13,14,15], with a similar mean in men (0.65 years) and women (0.60 years)[16]. Galic et al.[25] argue that the Cameriere method is the most accurate for determining age in individuals between 6 and 13 years old
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