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Expressing Uncertainty in Dental Age Estimation: A Comparison between Two Methods of Calculating the “Average” Standard Deviation |
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| Authors: | Derek Draft DDS Victoria S Lucas PhD Fraser McDonald PhD Manoharan Andiappan PhD Graham Roberts MDS |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Pathology, Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI;2. Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Department of Orthodontics, King's College London, Guy's Tower Wing, Great Maze Pond, London Bridge, SE1 9RT U.K.;3. Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Patient and Population Health Division (Dental Public Health), 2nd Floor Dental Hospital Extension, King's College Hospital Campus, Denmark Hill, SE5 9RS, Camberwell, London, SE5 9RS U.K.;4. Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences, Department of Orthodontics, King's College London, Guy's Tower Wing, Great Maze Pond, London Bridge, SE1 9RT U.K.Corresponding author: Graham Roberts, M.D.S. E‐mail: |
| Abstract: | The expression of uncertainty is defined by the standard deviation and is usually expressed in multiples of the standard deviation (±1sd, ±2sd, and ±3sd). The objective was to use weighting of the sd calculation by the number or count of subjects for each tooth development stage. A comparison shows the difference between the range of uncertainty using the unweighted sd and the weighted sd. The range of uncertainty related to Dental Age Estimation is statistically significantly greater (p < 0.001) for the weighted sd compared to the unweighted sd. It is concluded that the number of subjects for each Tooth Development Stage in the Reference Data set should be included in the calculation for a single Dental Age Estimation using the Simple Average Method when presenting the uncertainty associated with the point estimate of the “mean” for Dental Age Estimation of a single subject of unknown age. |
| Keywords: | forensic science forensic odontology dental age estimation pooled standard deviation unweighted average standard deviation weighted average standard deviation |