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Evaluate the Utility of Smaller Sample Sizes When Assessing Dental Maturity Curves for Forensic Age Estimation

NCJ Number
236895
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 56 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2011 Pages: 1604-1609
Author(s)
Sara J. Flood, B.Sc., M.F.Sc.; Warren J. Mitchell, B.Sc.; Charles E. Oxnard, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., D.Sc.; Berwin A. Turlach, Ph.D.; John McGeachie, B.D.Sc., Ph.D., D.Sc.
Date Published
November 2011
Length
6 pages
Annotation
Dental maturation and chronological age estimation were determined from 144 healthy Western Australian individuals aged 3.6-14.5 years.
Abstract
The results were compared with Farah et al.'s previous study which comprised a larger heterogeneous sample of Western Australian individuals (n = 1450). Orthopantomograms were analyzed with the application of Demirjian and Goldstein's 4-tooth method based on eight stages of dental mineralization. Analysis of variance revealed no significant differences in dental maturity scores in each age group among the males in both studies; similar results were seen in the females. Paired t-tests showed no statistical significance overall between chronological and estimated ages for the males in our sample (p = 0.181), whereas the females showed significant differences (p less than 0.001). The results show that smaller samples may be used when assessing dental maturity curves for forensic age estimation. (Published Abstract)