Testing international techniques for the radiographic assessment of third molar maturation

• Vanessa Sartori ^[3] ; Ademir Franco ^[4] ; Maria-Salete Linden ^[1] ; Moisés Cardoso ^[1] ; Dora de Castro ^[1] ; Angélica Sartori ^[5] ; Cauane Silva ^[2] ; Micheline Trentin ^[1] ; João-Paulo De Carli ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidade de Passo Fundo

     Universidade de Passo Fundo

     Brasil

     
  2. [2] Universidade Federal de Pelotas

     Universidade Federal de Pelotas

     Brasil

     
  3. [3] MSc. University of Passo Fundo, School of Dentistry, Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilMSc. University of Passo Fundo, School of Dentistry, Postgraduate Program in Dentistry, Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  4. [4] PhD. São Leopoldo Mandic School of Dentistry, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil; Department of Therapeutic Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Sechenov University, Russia; Forensic Dentistry, Centre of Forensic and Legal Medicine and Dentistry, University of Dundee, Scotland/UK
  5. [5] Ind. Sol Private law firm, Passo Fundo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

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• Localización: Journal of Clinical and Experimental Dentistry, ISSN-e 1989-5488, Vol. 13, Nº. 12 (December), 2021, págs. 1182-1188
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • To assess the radiographic third molar maturation with internationally developed techniques for age estimation.

    The study analyzed 1,062 panoramic radiographs of patients treated at the School of Dentistry of the University of Passo Fundo/RS/Brazil, between 2009 and 2020. The patients were separated into ages between 15.00 and 23.99 years and, for each radiograph, the third molars were classified into stages from 1 to 10, with the subsequent application of one of the formulae proposed by Gunst et al. A dichotomous variable indicating whether each individual was younger or older than 18 was calculated from the chronological age of the individuals. A logistic regression model was adjusted to assess whether the third molar stages are correlated with the age of individuals.

    The error indicators between estimated and chronological ages showed that mean errors closer to zero are seen in the 18-18.9 and 17-17.9 age groups, respectively. Male individuals were earlier in terms of dental mineralization but there were no significant differences between sexes regarding the applicability of the method. The ROC curve shows that the analysis of a single third molar for age estimation gives a maximum of 70.4% reliability.

    The moderate performance of the technique tested in the present study justify future country-specific corrections to improve age estimation from the radiographic assessment of third molar maturity.