Age Estimation Through Radiographic Evaluation of Third Molar Mineralization

Objectives: Forensic age determination is vital to our society yet more research is needed to further advance our knowledge in this field. Observing stages of the dentition can be used for age assessment but becomes more difficult once dental development is complete. This study evaluated the use of panoramic radiographs to determine chronologic age range utilizing the developmental stages of third molars.
Methods: A total of 2000 panoramic radiographs taken from years 2013-2015 of patients between the ages of 4-22 treated at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry were analyzed. The development and mineralization of third molars were classified into eight stages (A-H) according to Demirjian et al.’s classification method. Differences between the chronological age of third molar mineralization were then compared among quadrants, genders, and ethnicities.
Results: Of the 2000 radiographs examined, 999 were selected based on study criteria. The mean age (years) of those patients was 13.03 ± 1.68 for males (392 subjects) and 13.19 ± 1.56 for females (607 subjects). Results showed no significant difference in third molar stages of mineralization among all four quadrants in both male and female. The majority of the subjects did not report ethnicity, but 213 identified as Hispanics. The mean age for Hispanic males show statistically significant lower mean than Hispanic females only at Q4 on stage B (10.22 ± 1.39 vs 11.67±0.84) and Q1 on stage D (12.73 ± 1.19 vs 13.47±1.12), p-values= 0.021 and 0.038, respectively. Otherwise, there were no statistically significant mean differences in age between Hispanics males and females for any other type of stage, p>0.05.
Conclusions: Panoramic radiographic assessment of third molar mineralization may be a useful tool for age estimation.