Measurement of the Third Molar Apices to Test Chronological Age of Individuals Over 18 Years Old

Forensic odontologists are the specialists that can be asked to assist in estimating the age of persons who may or may not have reached the legal age. In this regard, selecting a practical method would be a priority. The present study aimed to measure the apices of third molar to discriminate between individuals who are or not 18 years of age or older and to fix a cutoff for evaluation of the age in these cases.

Panoramic radiographs belonging to 150 healthy individuals aged between14-23, were randomly selected. To evaluate the individuals, using Cameriere method, the third molar maturity index- I3M- of the left side was calculated as follows: The sum of the distances between the inner sides of the open apices divided by the tooth length to normalise the measurements. For the statistical assessment of the data, SAS software and Proc Logistic were used.

If an individual has I3M≤0/01, he is 18 or more and if I3M>0/01 it can be predicted that the probability of being 18 years or more using the calculated formula. According to the results, there was no significant correlation between gender and Cameriere method model.

Calculating the third molar maturity index is a practical method to estimate age in Iranian population. Concordant percentage of 89.3% and C factor 90% showed that this method is suitable to estimate the age of an individual of more or less than 18 years.