Age estimation with cemental incremental lines in normal and periodontally diseased teeth using phase contrast microscope: an original research

Abstract

Background Age estimation is an important factor in forensic science for human identification. Teeth are considered to play a vital role as they resist decomposition at death unlike other tissues. This resistance and the gradual structural changes that take place throughout the life of an individual have made teeth useful indicators for age estimation. Dental cementum shows continuous apposition throughout the life of an individual. Tooth cemental annulation is a microscopic method for the determination of an individual’s age based on the analysis of incremental lines of cementum. Light microscopy as well as specialized microscopic methods have been employed to enhance the assessment of the cemental annulations. Periodontal disease is the most common dental problem affecting millions of people. Assessing the efficiency of the tooth cemental annulations method in periodontally diseased teeth is an important requisite. This study aims at assessing and evaluating the tooth cemental annulations in normal and periodontally diseased teeth using phase contrast microscopic method for age determination. Results A total of 60 teeth were included in the study and out of which 30 teeth were normal (sound teeth without any associated pathologies) and 30 were periodontally involved teeth respectively. Longitudinal ground sections were prepared and observed under phase contrast microscope. Measurements were made using an image analyzer software. The total width of the cementum was divided by the distance between two incremental lines. The eruption age of the tooth was then added to this to obtain the chronologic age for each individual. The results in the present study showed that tooth cemental annulations are applicable to periodontally sound teeth as well as in periodontally diseased teeth. There was no significant difference of estimated age from the actual age in both periodontally sound and periodontally diseased teeth. Normal teeth showed a reliability value of 92% and periodontally compromised teeth showed 96% respectively. There was no substantial influence of periodontal health on the estimated age. Conclusions The study concludes that the use of phase contrast microscopy in conjunction with image enhancement procedures improves the accuracy of age estimation and may serve as a reliable aid in forensic identification.

A comparison between incremental lines of cementum and aspartic acid racemization in age estimation: histological and biochemical study

“…This agrees with the results of Alghonamy et al (2015), Swetha et al (2018), andSultana et al (2021), who found that increased age can lead to greater errors, (2004) for those above 55 years old showed greater variance from their chronological age. Also, Aggarwal et al (2008) and Gupta et al (2014) found that in lower age groups, the correlation coefficients between chronological tooth age and cementum incremental lines were stronger than in the higher age groups.…”

Age estimation using tooth cementum annulations: bias and sources of inaccuracy

“…This allows an important possibility of extension of this methodology to dental specimens of any type, in contrast to the technique still prevailing that involves the use of single-rooted teeth only (see among others [11,15]). Our findings have been confirmed by other studies [19,30] but contradict, for example, the study by Sultana et al [32], who observed a greater difference between chronological and estimated age in specimens consisting of third molars -only three third molars were included in their sample-than in the other types of teeth examined.…”

“…Apart from cases of profound periodontal pathologies, Kagerer and Grupe [19] showed that teeth with only marginal periodontal disease yielded very satisfactory outcomes if the level of section was carefully selected. Other studies also support the slight impact of periodontal diseases on TCA counting [32,54]. No influence was observed by Wittwer-Backofen et al [12] who stated: "the accuracy of the TCA age estimation is independent of periodontal disease".…”

“…It is possible that the methodology applied in this study (analysis of TCA on decalcified semi-thin sections of all tooth types) has conditioned this result and that a higher correlation between the variables and, consequently a higher accuracy in estimating age, could have been achieved in this sample if other validated protocols had been used (among others [12,28,30,31]). Sultana et al [32], for example, recently obtained an average difference of just one year between chronological and estimated ages in a sample of 60 teeth extracted from individuals in a narrow age range (20-50 years). Moreover, a strong correlation (r = 0.93) was found in a recent study carried out on 200 teeth of the same type (canines) [15].…”

Age estimation with cemental incremental lines- A Phase contrast and stereomicroscopic study

“…Teeth are considered to be most resistant to decomposition as they undergo least amount of degenerative changes on exposure to environmental factors. [6]The first ever known evidence of teeth being used as an age indicator originated in England in 1837 by Edwin Saunders who after examining 1049 children stated that teeth were better indicator of age than height. [5]Other systems used for age estimation bone are development, secondary sexual characteristics, and stature and weight.…”