Age estimation based on tooth development: a test of reliability and validity

Abstract

Staaf V, Mornstad H, Welander U; Age estimation based on tooth development; a test of reliability and vahdity. ScandJ Dent Res 1991; 99; 281-6.Abstract -The precision and accuracy of three commonly used methods for age determination by teeth were studied in 541 children aged 5.5-14.5 yr. These methods rely on estimation of tooth development as seen in radiographs compared with compiled dental charts. It was found that charts made from Scandinavian populations gave a rather good precision, while one from a Canadian population gave a consistent overestimate. Dependent on the method used, sex, and age, the 95% confidence interval for an individual prediction could be more than + 2 yr.

Accuracy of Four Dental Age Estimation Methods in Southern Indian Children

“…In recent studies, mean absolute difference, which is the difference between dental age and known age proportionally aged to within an age interval or to within a proportion of known age, considered as a measure to quantify a method's accuracy [17]. Hence, in this study, the effectiveness of the four methods was compared in terms of mean absolute difference between the estimated and actual age, and the number of age estimates that were either <±1 year (between 1.2 to 2 y, considered as accurate) or >±2 y (considered as inaccurate) from actual age [18]. This study aimed to test the repeatability and accuracy of four age estimation methods for South Indian children by determining the mean absolute difference for each gender and cohort separately.…”

“…Staaf et al, [18] compared four radiographic methods [5,6,10,16] on 541 Swedish children. In this study DA was underestimated for 0.38 and 0.55 y for girls below and above 10 y of age and 0.28 and 0.53 y for boys of below and above 10 y of age according to the adopted Haavikko method.…”

Forensic Age Estimation in Unaccompanied Minors and Young Living Adults

“…The widespread use of this method as an infant age assessment procedure has meant that the results of the Demirjian study have been tested in other populations. Numerous studies over recent decades show a slight delay in maturation of the original French-Canadian population, causing overestimation when the original results of the method are applied to other populations (Bolaños et al, 2003;Davis & Hagg, 1994;Eid et al, 2002;Frucht et al, 2000;Koshy & Tandom, 1998;Liversigde etl., 1999;Loevy & Goldberg, 1999;MacKenna et al, 2002;Nykanen et al, 1998;Nystro et al, 1986;Prabhakar et al, 2002;Staaf et al, 1991;Willems et al, 2001). The aforesaid overestimation varies between some months and several years in age, and it is recommended that standard values based on studies of the same population to which the method is applied are used.…”

“…The Nolla method is one of the most widely used clinically as a reliable procedure for dental development estimation in permanent teeth. Diverse studies (Bolaños et al, 2003;Haavikko, 1974;Staaf et al, 1991), applying the Nolla method find an average assessment error of around 2 years for a 95% confidence interval. One of the systems most universally used to evaluate the degree of permanent dental development is that proposed by Demirjian, Goldstein and Tanner (Demirjian et al, 1973), based on analysis of a sample of French-Canadian children.…”

Estimating age of Brazilians using the methods of Demirjian and Nicodemo, Moraes and M&#233;dici: A comparative analysis

“…The sum of the scores of the seven teeth can be converted directly in the dental age. It was emphasized that the maturity stages system is universal, however the conversion to the dental age depends on the population considered, it is still affirmed that the present method is applicable between the ages of 3 and 17 [12,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22].…”