Until final completion of maturation processes at the age of approximately 18 years, determination of the skeletal age of the hand plays a central role in forensic age diagnostics in living persons in criminal proceedings. In this process, assessment of hand radiographs relies primarily on the stage of development of the epiphyseal nuclei, the increase in size of the individual bones and of the hand skeleton as a whole, changes in the shape of the various skeletal elements and ossification of the epiphyseal plates. To achieve this, there are a variety of methodological approaches based on two different fundamental principles. The methods proposed by Greulich and Pyle, Thiemann et al. and Gilsanz and Ratib rank among the so-called atlas techniques, whilst the methods proposed by Tanner et al. and Roche et al. are classified as so-called bone-specific techniques. In order to be applicable in the field of criminal procedure, the methods of estimating the skeletal age of the hand developed with clinical aspects in mind must satisfy the demands of a high degree of estimate accuracy and good reproducibility of the estimated results. In the course of the present study, a study population of 92 persons was used to compare the above-mentioned atlas and bone-specific techniques for determining hand skeleton age in view of these qualitative criteria. Estimate accuracy was studied using Pearson's correlation coefficients, and weighted kappa coefficients were determined for studying the intra-and interobserver agreement of an estimate result. In the inter-method comparison, a basically good agreement was shown between the skeletal ages and the chronological age of the test persons on the one hand and the skeletal age diagnoses of one or of two examiners on the other. No general advantage of the methodological approach of the bone-specific technique was discernible in the course of comparison; in the female gender, particularly, the RUS2 and RUS3 score of the method of Tanner et al. proved unfavourable. For age estimation practice in criminal proceedings, the atlas methods of Greulich and Pyle and Thiemann et al. are particularly recommendable.

One of the main criteria used in dental age diagnostics in living adolescents and young adults is assessment of the mineralisation stage of the third molars. In the case of Europid populations, it has been established that impaction status has an influence on the rate of mineralisation of the third molars. In view of this, a study was undertaken to determine whether the chronological process of wisdom tooth mineralisation is dependent upon impaction status in black Africans too. Orthopantomograms (553) of 437 male and 116 female black South Africans with verified birth dates in the age group between 10 and 26 years were studied. Mineralisation stage and impaction status were determined for all third molars. Statistical measures were calculated for the mandibular wisdom teeth at stages F, G and H and for the maxillary wisdom teeth at stage H in the male gender for both impacted and non-impacted third molars. It was ascertained that the minimum age in persons with impacted third molars, depending on the wisdom tooth observed, was 0.19-2.57 years higher than in those with non-impacted wisdom teeth. Test persons with impacted mandibular wisdom teeth at stage F or G were on average between 0.32 and 1.88 years older than those with non-impacted mandibular wisdom teeth. The 50 % probability values of impacted wisdom teeth at stage H were 1.85-3.31 years higher than those in non-impacted wisdom teeth. The conclusion was drawn that in male black Africans, impacted mandibular wisdom teeth mineralise more slowly than non-impacted lower third molars. The presence of impacted mandibular wisdom teeth in mineralisation stage H in male black Africans does not, however, furnish proof of completion of the 18(th) year of life beyond reasonable doubt.

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There is a need for dental age estimation methods after completion of the third molar mineralization. Degenerative dental characteristics appear to be suitable for forensic age diagnostics beyond the 18th year of life. In 2012, Olze et al. investigated the criteria studied by Gustafson using orthopantomograms. The objective of this study was to prove the applicability and reliability of this method with a large cohort and a wide age range, including older individuals. For this purpose, 2346 orthopantomograms of 1167 female and 1179 male Germans aged 15 to 70 years were reviewed. The characteristics of secondary dentin formation, cementum apposition, periodontal recession and attrition were evaluated in all the mandibular premolars. The correlation of the individual characteristics with the chronological age was examined by means of a stepwise multiple regression analysis, in which the chronological age formed the dependent variable. Following those results, R values amounted to 0.73 to 0.8; the standard error of estimate was 6.8 to 8.2 years. Fundamentally, the recommendation for conducting age estimations in the living by these methods can be shared. The values for the quality of the regression are, however, not precise enough for a reliable age estimation around regular retirement date ages. More precise regression formulae for the age group of 15 to 40 years of life are separately presented in this study. Further research should investigate the influence of ethnicity, dietary habits and modern health care on the degenerative characteristics in question.

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