A contribution for medico-legal estimation of age in portuguese population using the London atlas of tooth development

Pavlovic, Strahinja

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/19079

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Authors

Pavlovic, Strahinja

Advisor(s)

Pereira, Cristiana Palmela

Santos, Rui Filipe Vargas de Sousa

Abstract(s)

Chronological age estimation from the dental parameters is becoming one of the fundaments of Forensic Science. Numerous body traits can be used for this purpose, but dental parameters are considered the most reliable ones. The London atlas of tooth development is the most recent developed method for dental age estimation and represents a modification of the previous older methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the London atlas in a sample of a Portuguese population. The sample included 736 radiographic images (498 females and 238 males) of Portuguese origin, patients of Dental Clinic of Superior Institute of Health Sciences Egas Moniz and Dental Medicine Faculty, Univeristy of Lisbon. The age range of the individuals was between 3 and 24 years. Several tests were applied in order to evaluate the London atlas. All the statistical analysis were based on the paired t-test. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference between left and right side of the jaw (p > 0.05). Both sides showed an average overestimation of age by one month approximately. Moreover, the significant difference between chronological and estimated age was not observed in the females. However, the significant difference was observed in a sample coming from males (right: p = 0.008; left: p = 0.003). Additionally, there was a significant difference in a population coming from Institute Egas Moniz (p <0.05). Our results indicated that the London atlas can be potentially used as a tool for age estimation, especially in cases when all teeth finished their development. However, the difference between sexes clearly suggests that separate charts should be made for each sex. Further studies, which will have as a final goal development of a new method for age estimation using dental parameters, are needed.