Age estimation using canine pulp volumes in adults: a CBCT image analysis

Abstract

Secondary dentine deposition is responsible for the decrease in the volume of the pulp cavity with age. Therefore, the volume of the pulp cavity can be considered as a predictor for estimating age. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship strength between canine pulp volumes and chronological age from homogenous (approximately equal numbers of individuals in each age range) age distribution and to assess the effect of sex as predictor in age estimation. This study was performed on 719 subjects of Pakistani origin. Cone beam computed tomography images of 521 left maxillary and 681 left mandibular canines were collected from 368 females and 349 males aged from 15 to 65 years. Planmeca Romexis® software was used to trace the outline of the pulp cavity and to calculate pulp volumes. Regression analysis was performed to assess the correlation between pulp volumes considering with and without sex as a predictor with chronological age. The obtained results showed that mandibular canine pulp volume and sex have the highest predictive power (R2 = 0.33). The relationship between mandibular canine pulp volume and sex with chronological age demonstrates an odd S-shaped non-linear relationship. A statistically significant difference in volumes of pulp was found (p = 0.000) between males and females. The conclusion was that predictions using the pulp volume of the mandibular canine and sex produced the best estimates of chronological age.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s00414-019-02147-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Evaluation of secondary dentin formation for forensic age assessment by means of semi-automatic segmented ultrahigh field 9.4 T UTE MRI datasets

“…In the recent past, increasing numbers of publications have reported an approach to calculate the actual volume of the dental pulp or a quotient of the volume of the hard tooth substance and the pulp [21][22][23][24][25][26]. These methods are based on the cone-beam CT (CBCT) for imaging.…”

The accuracy of age estimation from pulp chamber/crown volume ratio of canines obtained by cone beam computed tomography images: an Egyptian study

“…Additionally, a significant negative correlation between the ratio of canine's pulp/tooth area and age in Egyptians was reported in previous studies (Afify et al 2019;Salemi et al 2020). Conversely, Kazmi et al (2019) reported that each of the maxillary and mandible canine pulp volumes had non-linear correlation with chronological age in the Pakistani population. They observed consistent decrease of the pulp volume as the individual's age increases; however, the rate of change in the pulp volume was not fixed among different early, middle, and old ages.…”

“…Similarly, various studies revealed no significant differences between both sexes in the canine teeth of Egyptians (Afify et al 2014;Afify et al 2019;Salemi et al 2020), Tunisians (Nemsi et al 2017), Indians (Saxena 2011), and Portuguese (Cameriere et al 2009). Conversely, a study performed on 717 CBCT images of Pakistani origin subjects revealed significant differences of the canine's pulp volumes between males and females (Kazmi et al 2019). It seems that sex differences of the teeth are related to the selected teeth and measurements as well as the applied techniques, methods, and the studied population (Marroquin et al 2017).…”

“…Similarly, molar teeth are greatly liable for caries and restoration (Americano et al 2017). Accordingly, similar studies have recommended canines for measuring the pulp size rather than other teeth groups (Gulsahi et al 2018;Afify et al 2019;Kazmi et al 2019).…”

“…However, these studies investigated the relation of either pulp chamber linear dimensions or pulp/tooth area ratio with age (Nemsi et al 2017;Uğur Aydın and Bayrak 2019;Salemi et al 2020). There were inconsistent results with a variable strength of linear and non-linear correlations (Kazmi et al 2019). Additionally, only one study investigated the 3D pulp/tooth volume ratio of mandibular canines for age estimation in a sample of Egyptians, revealing an accuracy of 75.5%.…”