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Child brides: the age estimation problem in young girls
Roberto Cameriere, Luz A. Velandia Palacio, Marco Marchetti, Francesca Baralla, Mario Cingolani, Luigi Ferrante
The aim of this work is to study a sample of girls from 15 different countries using Third Molar Maturity Index (I3M ), to assess the probability that a girl has reached the legal age of 18 years. The studied sample consisted of 3228 Orthopantomograms of healthy female subjects from 15 different countries. The cut-off value of I3M = 0.08 was tested to discriminate adults (≥18 years) and minors (<18 years). X-ray images were processed by computer-aided drafting program ImageJ. The information on sensitivity and specificity of I3M coming from the 15 countries was pooled together using a bivariate Bayesian modeling approach. Specificity of the I3M test did not change when the country was considered, and its value remains greater than 85% for each studied country. This method is useful to estimate the age of the girls involved in suspected early marriage because of the high probability of correctly identifying a minor with similar results observed among tested populations.
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020, 38; 3-2:7)
Evaluation of Cameriere and Willems age estimation methods in panoramic radiographs of Brazilian children
Ana Luísa Rezende Machado, Bruna Saud Borges, Roberto Cameriere, Carlos Eduardo Palhares Machado, Ricardo Henrique Alves da Silva
The importance of age estimation in the forensic field is inherent to the process of establishing the biological profile of children, sub-adults and adults. The established profile might be useful for the identification of deceased victims or living individuals when it comes to age of legal interest. In parallel, age estimation is also investigated for clinical purposes, especially for the diagnosis of dental and bone maturation. Several studies were developed to provide accurate age estimation methods based on skeletal and dental development. This study aimed to apply and compare Cameriere’s and Willems’ methods for dental age estimation in a Brazilian sample. Two examiners performed image analysis and method application in 180 panoramic radiographs of Brazilian children aged 6-14 years old. The ages estimated with both methods revealed a good correlation with the chronological ages of Brazilian boys and girls. Cameriere’s method showed a slight underestimation of 0.05 years for girls and 0.03 for boys. Willems ’ method, on the other hand, showed a n overestimation of -0.47 years for girls and -0.39 for boys. Better age estimates were obtained combining the outcomes of both methods. In practice, Cameriere’s and Willems’ methods reached reliable outcomes and could be applied for dental age estimation purposes.
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020, 38; 3-8:15)
Vanessa Utama, Nurtami Soedarsono, Mindya Yuniastuti
The goal of long term research on age assessment is to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of existing reliable methods of age estimation. In cases of age estimation when all teeth are present, maximum accuracy can be obtained using a 7 tooth model. Demirjian’s system and Willems models require all seven mandibular teeth in the lower left quadrant for age assessment. UAge estimation significantly contributes to forensic medicine and law enforcement in Indonesia. However, lateral cephalometric radiographs of cervical vertebrae have not been used to estimate age in the Indonesian population. This study developed a formula to estimate the skeletal age of cervical vertebrae using multiple linear regression analyses, estimating the dental age and evaluating the agreement between cervical vertebrae skeletal-chronological, dental-chronological, and cervical vertebrae skeletal-dental ages. Several anatomical parameters were measured to obtain cervical vertebrae ratios from 100 lateral cephalometric radiographs, and followed by the calculation of dental tooth crown index data from 100 panoramic radiographs of subjects 9–18 years old. The Bland- Altman plot of cervical vertebrae skeletal and dental ages showed a mean difference of -0.094 ± 1.52 years, with upper and lower limits of 2.882 and -3.070 years, respectively. The means of the cervical vertebrae skeletal, dental, and chronological ages were 13.97 (2.67), 14.06 (2.45), and 13.97 (2.97), respectively. The mean differences between cervical vertebrae skeletal-chronological and dental-chronological ages were 0.566 (2.26) and 4.005 (2.07), respectively. Furthermore, a validation trial (group 2, n = 10, three males and seven females) was conducted to test the accuracy of the cervical vertebrae skeletal age estimation formula using consecutive sampling. The age range was 9–11 years. Cervical vertebrae skeletal age showed a better agreement with chronological age than did dental age.
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020, 38; 3-16:24)
Manar A Helmy, Mohammad Osama, Menatalla M. Elhindawy, Bassant Mowafey, Yasmeen M.Taalab, Heba Allah Abd ElRahman
Aim: The present work aimed to evaluate age-related variations in the dental pulp chamber volume of second molars using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging, in order to establish a specific mathematical model for second molars and measure its accuracy, especially in the case of Egyptian adults. Subjects and methods: From 187 subjects between 21–50 years of age, CBCT images of 257 maxillary and 248 mandibular second molars were included. A mathematical model for human age estimation was established. An independent additional set of CBCT images was obtained to test the model’s accuracy. Results: For maxillary and mandibular teeth, R2 for the pooled sexes were 0.51 and 0.52, and SEE were 5.92 and 5.71, respectively. A model for each sex was established, due to the significant difference between them, where R2 was equal to 0.668 and 0.650 in males and 0.46 and 0.48 in females, concerning maxillary and mandibular teeth, respectively. When testing the validation samples, the mean absolute error (MAE) between the actual and estimated ages from the pooled sex model were 4.89 and 4.61 for maxillary and mandibular teeth, respectively. Conclusion: The pulp chamber volume of second molars is a relatively accurate indicator for age estimation in Egyptian adults.
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020, 38; 3-25:34)
Azhar A. Khan, Aadithya B. Urs, Jeyaseelan Augustine, Hanspal Singh
The grinding of a whole tooth specimen has been considered the conventional method to extract genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) in forensic science. However, we have tried the less destructive reverse root canal filing (RRCF) method without disturbing the morphology of the tooth to achieve competent amplifiable DNA. A total of 27 pairs of bilateral intact extracted teeth from the same subject were used in three different simulated environmental conditions for the respective RRCF and conventional methods: (a) soil burial for six months, (b) incineration at 200º C for four minutes, and (c) immersion in wa te r for two months . Qua l i t a t i v e a g a ros e g e l electrophoresis assessment and downstream amplification were performed. The results showed significantly higher mean DNA concentration for the RRCF method in all three environmental conditions (p value = 0.008) in comparison to the conventional method. However, comparable qualitative results were found in both methods for the mean DNA concentration for incinerated (159.49 ng/ml), soil (119.52 ng/ml), and water (108.60 ng/ml) samples. It was concluded that the RRCF method is better quantitively (ng/ml) and comparable in terms of quality with respect to the conventional method, with the added advantage of preservation of the tooth morphology.
(J Forensic Odontostomatol 2020, 38; 3-35:42)