Age Estimation Through Radiographic Evaluation of Third Molar Mineralization

Hypothesis: There are no statistically significant mean differences in patient age at stages A-H of third molar mineralization in terms of sex, race, and quadrant. Objective: In forensic examination, observing stages of the dentition results in highly accurate 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 of patients between the ages of 4-22 taken from years 2013-2015 at the University of Illinois College of Dentistry were analyzed. The development of third molars were classified into eight stages (A-H) according to Demirjian et al.’s classification method. The majority of subjects did not report ethnicity, however 213 identified as Hispanics. Differences between the chronological age of third molar mineralization were then compared among sex and quadrants. Results: The subjects’ mean age was 13.03 ± 1.68 years for males (392 subjects) and 13.19 ± 1.56 years for females (607 subjects). Hispanic males showed statistically significant lower mean age than Hispanic females at Q4 stage B (10.22 ± 1.39 vs 11.67±0.84) and Q1 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 Hispanic males and females for any other classification stage. The 95% confidence interval (CI) on age for each stage in all four quadrants was investigated and a narrow range between upper and lower boundary was observed. Conclusions: The majority of the results indicate no significant mean age differences in third molar mineralization among all four quadrants in both males and females. Panoramic radiographic assessment of third molar mineralization is a useful tool for age estimation in children and young adults. Funding: N/A. IRB/ACC protocol: IRB 2015-0892