Age‐Related Changes in Pulp Cavity of Incisors as a Determinant for Forensic Age Identification

Abstract

To find a simple and convenient method for age identification upon age-related pulp cavity narrowing, the mesiodistal diameters of the cervical pulp chamber, the middle and terminal parts of the root canal of the pulp cavity of 620 incisors were measured on radiographs taken in situ in 80 Chinese aged from 15 to 80. It was shown that the three mesiodistal diameters significantly decreased in a negative linear relationship with age (-0.4233 ≤ r ≥ -0.8465) in all incisors, but the narrowing velocity of the cervical pulp chamber and the middle part of the root canal in the maxillary incisors (b = -0.02 mm) was faster than that in the mandibular incisors (b = -0.01 mm). Accordingly, a mathematical model describing the ages as a function of any one of the three mesiodistal diameters of the pulp cavity was deduced, which would be useful for age identification in forensic medicine or archaeology.

A new age estimation procedure based on the 3D CBCT study of the pulp cavity and hard tissues of the teeth for forensic purposes: A pilot study

“…In accordance with some previous studies (8,15,16,17,18,19,20), the healthy upper left central incisor was chosen to evaluate pulp/tooth volume. Teeth with treatments, restorations, cavities, evident wear, or attrition were excluded from the study.…”

Human age estimation from lower-canine pulp volume ratio based on Bayes’ theorem with modern Japanese population as prior distribution

“…A radiograph was easier to prepare than ground sections; moreover, radiography could be applied to living humans without extracting the teeth, allowing greater number of samples to be obtained. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted to date modifying or testing the dental radiograph-based age-estimation methods (Kvaal et al, 1995;Drusini et al, 1997;Kolltveit et al, 1998;Willems et al, 2002;Bosmans et al, 2005;Paewinsky et al, 2005;Cameriere et al, 2007;Meinl et al, 2007;Drusini, 2008;Landa et al, 2009;Du et al, 2011;Cameriere et al, 2013). Meanwhile, with the development of computed tomography (CT) technology, the pulp cavity and the tooth can now be measured in three-dimensional space (Vandevoort et al, 2004;Yang et al, 2006;Someda et al, 2009;Aboshi et al, 2010;Agematsu et al, 2010;Star et al, 2011).…”

Maximum likelihood estimate of life expectancy in the prehistoric Jomon: Canine pulp volume reduction suggests a longer life expectancy than previously thought

“…This phenomenon was initially utilized as an age-indicator by Gustafson (1950) and subsequently developed by later researchers (Bosmans, Ann, Aly, & Willems, 2005;Burns & Maples, 1976;Cameriere et al, 2007Cameriere et al, , 2013Dalitz, 1962;Drusini, 2008;Drusini, Toso, & Ranzato, 1997;Du, Zhu, & Hong, 2011;Johanson, 1971;Kashyap & Koteswara Rao, 1990;Kolltveit, Solheim, & Kvaal, 1998;Kvaal & Solheim, 1994;Kvaal, Kolltveit, Thomsen, & Solheim, 1995;Landa, Garamendi, Botella, & Alem an, 2009;Maples, 1978;Maples & Rice, 1979 (Aboshi, Takahashi, & Komuro, 2010;Someda et al, 2009;Star et al, 2011;Tardivo et al, 2011Tardivo et al, , 2014Vandevoort et al, 2004;Yang, Jacobs, & Willems, 2006). This phenomenon was initially utilized as an age-indicator by Gustafson (1950) and subsequently developed by later researchers (Bosmans, Ann, Aly, & Willems, 2005;Burns & Maples, 1976;Cameriere et al, 2007Cameriere et al, , 2013Dalitz, 1962;Drusini, 2008;Drusini, Toso, & Ranzato, 1997;Du, Zhu, & Hong, 2011;Johanson, 1971;Kashyap & Koteswara Rao, 1990;Kolltveit, Solheim, & Kvaal, 1998;…”

“…The volume of the pulp chamber reduces within a tooth with advancing age due to the continuous growth of dentin tissue adjacent to the pulp. This phenomenon was initially utilized as an age-indicator by Gustafson (1950) and subsequently developed by later researchers (Bosmans, Ann, Aly, & Willems, 2005;Burns & Maples, 1976;Cameriere et al, 2007Cameriere et al, , 2013Dalitz, 1962;Drusini, 2008;Drusini, Toso, & Ranzato, 1997;Du, Zhu, & Hong, 2011;Johanson, 1971;Kashyap & Koteswara Rao, 1990;Kolltveit, Solheim, & Kvaal, 1998;Kvaal & Solheim, 1994;Kvaal, Kolltveit, Thomsen, & Solheim, 1995;Landa, Garamendi, Botella, & Alem an, 2009;Maples, 1978;Maples & Rice, 1979 (Aboshi, Takahashi, & Komuro, 2010;Someda et al, 2009;Star et al, 2011;Tardivo et al, 2011Tardivo et al, , 2014Vandevoort et al, 2004;Yang, Jacobs, & Willems, 2006). In a previous study, we examined mandibular-canine pulp volume reduction using 363 specimens from a sample of recent-modern Japanese of known age (Sasaki & Kondo, 2014), in which we measured pulp and root volumes, and calculated the ratio of pulp to root.…”