Third molar maturity index (I3M) for assessing age of majority: study of a black South African sample.

Abstract

The evaluation of the cutoff value of I3M = 0.08 for discriminating black South African minors from adults, and its relationship with chronological age. A sample of 833 panoramic radiographs of healthy black South African subjects (500 females and 333 males), in the age range of 14 to 24years (mean age 17.67years in females and 17.42years in males), was retrospectively evaluated. ICC values were 99.10% (95% CI 97.70 to 99.70%) and 99.20% (95% CI 98.00 to 99.60%), for the intra- and inter-observer reliability, respectively. I3M decreased as the real age gradually increased in both sexes. According to the logistic regression model, the variable sex was not significant when the probability that an individual is 18years or older was calculated. The I3M = 0.08 was valuable in discriminating between adults and minors. The overall accuracy (ACC = fraction of accurately classified subjects) is 0.90 (95% CI 0.87-0.91); the proportion of correctly classified subjects (Se = sensitivity) is 0.80 (95% CI 0.76-0.84), and specificity (Sp) is 0.95 (95% CI 0.93-0.97). The PPV (predictive positive value) is 0.96 (95% CI 0.95-0.97), and the negative predictive value is 0.76 (95% CI 0.72-0.80). The results show that I3M is a valuable method to distinguish subjects who are around legal adult age in South Africa.