ISSN: 0022-1198
CODEN: JFSCA
Published Online: 5 May 2004
Page Count: 4

Age Calculation Using X-ray Microfocus Computed Tomographical Scanning of Teeth: A Pilot Study
Peirs, A
University Statistics Centre, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Bielen, DJ
Radiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Vandevoort, FM
Forensic odontology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Willems, G
Forensic odontology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Cleynenbreugel, JV
Medicine and Engineering Medical Imaging Computing (Radiology-ESAT/PSI), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Bergmans, L
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Wevers, M
Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

Lambrechts, P
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,

(Received 22 February 2003; accepted 13 March 2004)

Abstract

To correlate dental age with an individual's chronological age based on the calculated volume ratio of pulp versus tooth volume measured, an X-ray microfocus computed tomography unit (μCT) with 25μm spatial resolution was used to non-destructively scan 43 extracted single root teeth of 25 individuals with well-known chronological age. Custom-made analysis software was used by two examiners to obtain numerical values for pulpal and tooth volume. The ratio of both was calculated and statistically processed. No significant intra-orinter-examiner differences were found. In fact,a very strong concordance correlation coefficient was found. Linear regression analysis showed a coefficient of determination (r) of 0.31 which suggests that there is a rather weak correlation between the volume ratio of pulp versus tooth and biological age. Although rather time consuming, this technique shows promising results for dental age estimation in a non-destructive manner using X-ray microfocus computed tomography.

Keywords:
forensic science, forensic odontology, dental age calculation, tomography, X-ray computed, non-destructive

Paper ID: JFS2004069
DOI: 10.1520/JFS2004069
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