A Reappraisal of Developing Deciduous Tooth Length as an Estimate of Age in Human Immature Skeletal Remains |
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| Authors: | Hugo FV Cardoso PhD Julia Meyers MA Helen M Liversidge PhD |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Archaeology and Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 4X7Corresponding author: Hugo F.V. Cardoso, Ph.D. E‐mail:;2. Department of Archaeology and Centre for Forensic Research, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, V5A 4X7;3. Queen Mary University of London, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Institute of Dentistry, Turner Street, London, E1 2AD U.K. |
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| Abstract: | This study provides an update on a quantitative method for immature age estimation based on postnatal deciduous mandibular tooth length. Two known sex and age skeletal collections from Western Europe were sampled (n = 97). Linear regression models for age estimated were calculated for each individual tooth, each sex, and sex combined sample using classical calibration. Prediction errors, residuals, and percentage of individuals whose real age fell within the 95% prediction interval were calculated. The teeth which develop earlier in life, the incisors and the first molar, showed the greatest precision, while the canine showed the least. This method has greater applicability to archeological skeletons or to children in developing countries than for use in North American or European forensic contexts. The method can be applied to incomplete or poorly preserved remains of unknown sex, particularly when dental radiographs are not an option or when teeth have been removed from the alveolus or crypt. |
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| Keywords: | forensic science forensic anthropology forensic odontology age determination by teeth metric method juvenile remains |
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