Objective measurement of dental color for age estimation by spectroradiometry

Abstract

Age-related changes in tooth color have been described previously, however, the use of dental color for age estimation in forensic odontology has been limited due to the difficulty of measuring color objectively. This study presents an objective method for determining dental color to estimate the age of an individual.Dentine color in 250 teeth from patients ranging in age from 10 to 89 years was determined by spectroradiometry. Color measurements were performed as suggested in the CIE 1931 (International Commission on Illumination). Chromaticity coordinates (x, y, z), luminance (Y ), whiteness index (WIC, Z%, WIC) and yellowness index (YI) were obtained. Correlations between these colorimetric variables and aging were established by linear regression analyses. All the variables fit the mathematical model with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.53 to 0.75. This method of color measurement produced an expected associated error of calibration averaging 13.7 years about the mean estimated values, at a 70% level of confidence. Two different multiple regression models for dental age estimation were tested, and variables that made the greatest contributions to age calculation were identified.To determine the effect of postmortem interval on tooth color and its influence in age estimation, 37 teeth obtained from human skeletal remains buried during an interval ranging from 21 to 37 years were also studied. In this material, the correlation between age and dental color measured by spectroradiometry was weaker than in fresh extracted teeth.It is concluded that determination of dentine color by spectroradiometry is a potentially useful objective method to estimate age in forensic studies in combination with other methods. #

Influence of surface roughness on the color of dental-resin composites

“…Other illuminating/viewing geometries recommended by CIE (2004) for the reflection measurement of color (e.g., diffuse/0° and diffuse/45°) are more adequate for visual assessment experiments. The use of a spectroradiometer to measure and assess color is a non-contact and objective method that has been used in dentistry (Hasegawa et al, 2000;Reno et al, 2001;Martin-de las Heras et al, 2003;Luo et al, 2009) since it can measure colors in a way that matches the geometry of the visual assessments, with low discrepancies between measurement and assessment. Recently, Lim et al (2010) found significant correlations between the spectrophotometric and the spectroradiometric values of a * , b * and chroma for all-ceramic materials.…”

Evaluation of uniradicular teeth for age-at-death estimations in a sample from a Pampean hunter-gatherer cemetery (Argentina)

“…Some scholars considered that apical translucency is the factor that offers the greatest correlation with age when used isolately [2,22,25,40,51,53]. Another variable in consideration was teeth color [47,65], but it has not much value for archaeological analysis because of the variable incidence of postdepositional agents and the low correlation identified in such cases. Willems [76] revised these and other techniques used to estimate dental age.…”

Age estimation of skeletal remains: principal methods

“…Yellowing of teeth has been quantified by visual inspection, densitometer, and direct measurement of pentosidine. 61 Incidentally, somewhat related to forensic cases, browning of the skin, as seen in corpses lying in bogs, is probably also due to Maillard reactions, probably through the polysaccharide sphagnan, which is found in the bog, combining with amino groups from the decaying body. 62 Telomeres are structures at the ends of chromosomes.…”