Accuracy and Limits of Lamendin’s Age Estimation Method in a Sample of Nigerian Population

Abstract

This study compared the accuracy and limits of Lamendin’s age estimation method to age estimation by subset regression analysis in a sample of Nigerian population. The research was a cross-sectional study involving 81 single-rooted teeth obtained from 45 females and 36 males between ages 20 and 90 years. Extracted teeth samples were disinfected and stored, and directly measured using a digital vernier caliper on a 16 W X-ray box. Periodontosis (P) and Translucency (T) were derived using standard formulae from the root height (RH), translucency height (TH), and periodontal height (PH). Data were managed in an excel spreadsheet, then analyzed (stratified by sex) using Lamendin’s equation (Age = 0.18P + 0.42 T + 25.53) in SPSS (IBM® version 23, Armonk, USA) and Minitab® 2017 (version 18.1) best subset regression for males (Age = 6.23TH + 0.113P + 7.7) and females (Age = 14.90PH + 0.330 T − 2.12). Chi-square analysis tested the distributional deviations from actual age (using error ranges). From the analysis, 33.3% of the total population (M: 30.0% and F: 35.6%) were predicted within the suggested limit compared to 61.7% (M: 75.0% and F: 51.0%) for the best subset model. The distributional errors difference in both methods was not significant for males (χ2[df = 3] = 1.810, P = 0.405), females (χ2[df = 3] = 1.275, P = 0.528), and total samples (χ2[df = 3] = 4.960, P = 0.084). Lamendin’s formula did not provide accurate age estimates for a large proportion of sample population. More accurate estimates were limited to age ranged between 30 and 70 years. The study recommended that further studies using a larger sample be conducted to validate the findings of this study.