Development of formulae for dental age estimation using digital radiographs in the Mongolian population

Khongorzul Tsogtsaikhan; Yuka Hatano; Moe Kosaka; Kie Yoshida; Tserenbat Minjuur; Ariuntuul Garidkhuu; Keiichi Sasaki; Toshihiko Suzuki

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102234

Development of formulae for dental age estimation using digital radiographs in the Mongolian population

Leg Med (Tokyo). 2023 May:62:102234. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102234. Epub 2023 Mar 6.

Authors

Khongorzul Tsogtsaikhan¹, Yuka Hatano², Moe Kosaka³, Kie Yoshida⁴, Tserenbat Minjuur⁵, Ariuntuul Garidkhuu⁶, Keiichi Sasaki⁷, Toshihiko Suzuki⁸

Affiliations

¹ Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan; School of Dentistry, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, 14210, Ulaanbaatar City, Sukhbaatar District, S. Zorig Street, Mongolia. Electronic address: khongorzul.ts@mnums.edu.mn.
² Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan; Creative Interdisciplinary Research Division, Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, 6-3, Aramaki aza Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8578, Japan. Electronic address: yuka.hatano.c4@tohoku.ac.jp.
³ Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: moe.kosaka.a3@tohoku.ac.jp.
⁴ Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: kie.yoshida.t7@dc.tohoku.ac.jp.
⁵ School of Bio-Medicine, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, 14210, Ulaanbaatar City, Sukhbaatar District, S. Zorig Street, Mongolia. Electronic address: tserenbat@mnums.edu.mn.
⁶ School of Dentistry, Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences, 14210, Ulaanbaatar City, Sukhbaatar District, S. Zorig Street, Mongolia; School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, 4-3, Kozunomori, Narita, Chiba 286-8686, Japan. Electronic address: ariuntuul@mnums.edu.mn.
⁷ Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: keiichi.sasaki.e6@tohoku.ac.jp.
⁸ Division of Dental and Digital Forensics, Graduate School of Dentistry, Tohoku University, 4-1, Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 980-8575, Japan. Electronic address: suzk@tohoku.ac.jp.

PMID: 36933509
DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2023.102234

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the applicability of the pulp/tooth ratio (PTR) method for age estimation in Mongolian populations using panoramic radiographs and derive new regression formulae. Moreover, we aimed to assess the accuracy of these formulae in other subjects from the Mongolian population and compare them with the other formulae derived from different Asian populations. The total sample size of the study was 381. The formulae were derived from the examination of panoramic radiographs of 271 individuals aged 15-62 years. Following Cameriere's method, PTR was calculated for the upper and lower canine teeth. Linear regression analyses were performed between the actual age and that obtained from upper-lower canine PTR and established formulae for age estimation. To verify the formulae, two types of test samples were collected: 73 panoramic radiographs and 37 periapical radiographs. The estimated age was calculated using our new formulae and three other formulae derived from Asian populations. The correlation coefficient between the actual age and that obtained by PTR was significantly negative for both canines. According to our new regression formulae, the differences between the estimated age and actual age showed a bell-shaped curve distribution in both test groups. While using the other formulae derived from the Asian population, the distribution patterns obtained were significantly different in the Mongolian population. This study was the first to examine the relationship between actual age and PTR in Mongolian population, and these results advance the field of forensic science in Mongolia.

Keywords: Age estimation; Canine teeth; Forensic dentistry; Mongolia; Pulp/tooth ratio; Radiographs.

MeSH terms

Age Determination by Teeth* / methods
Asian People
Forensic Dentistry / methods
Humans
Radiography, Dental, Digital
Regression Analysis