At the moment, a large number of asylum seekers from the Middle East are passing through Serbia. Most of them do not have identification documents. Also, the past wars in the Balkan region have left many unidentified victims and missing persons. From a legal point of view, it is crucial to determine whether a person is a minor or an adult (≥18 years of age). In recent years, methods based on the third molar development have been used for this purpose. The present article aims to verify the third molar maturity index (I3M) based on the correlation between the chronological age and normalized measures of the open apices and height of the third mandibular molar. The sample consisted of 598 panoramic radiographs (290 males and 299 females) from 13 to 24 years of age. The cut-off value of I3M=0.08 was used to discriminate adults and minors. The results demonstrated high sensitivity (0.96, 0.86) and specificity (0.94, 0.98) in males and females, respectively. The proportion of correctly classified individuals was 0.95 in males and 0.91 in females. In conclusion, the suggested value of I3M=0.08 can be used on Serbian population with high accuracy.
Keywords: Age estimation; Legal adulthood; Panoramic radiograph; Third molar.
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