Acharya Ashith B
Department of Forensic Odontology, SDM College of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad, Karnataka, India.
Am J Forensic Med Pathol. 2010 Jun;31(2):133-7. doi: 10.1097/PAF.0b013e3181cf328d.
Assessment of age from the dentition constitutes an important step in constructing an identity profile of the decedent. Dentinal translucency is one of the morpho-histologic parameters considered best for dental age estimation, not only in terms of accuracy but also simplicity. By convention, translucency has been measured using calipers. Computer-based methods have been proposed for the same, although these required the use of custom-built software programs. The present study describes a method to measure translucency on sectioned teeth using commercially available computer hardware and software. Translucency measurements on 81 tooth sections were obtained using the digital method and compared with those obtained using a caliper. Correlation coefficients of translucency measurements to age were statistically significant for both methods (P < 0.001) and marginally higher for the digital approach (r = 0.49). Application of linear regression equations derived from both methods on an independent sample (n = 15) revealed better ability of the digital method to assess age-60% of age estimates were within +/-5 years of the actual age as against 40% for caliper-based method. The superior results using the digital method are attributed to refined measurements obtained under magnification and the "touch-free" approach of measuring translucency on digital images of thin tooth sections. Moreover, the computer hardware and software used in the present study are ubiquitous and easy to use. Considering these advantages, the report recommends the use of the digital method to assess translucency for age estimation.
通过牙列评估年龄是构建死者身份特征的重要一步。牙本质透明度是形态组织学参数之一，被认为是最适合用于估计牙齿年龄的参数，不仅在准确性方面，而且在简易性方面。按照惯例，一直使用卡尺测量透明度。虽然需要使用定制软件程序，但也有人提出了基于计算机的方法。本研究描述了一种使用市售计算机硬件和软件测量切片牙齿透明度的方法。使用数字方法对81个牙齿切片进行了透明度测量，并与使用卡尺获得的测量结果进行了比较。两种方法的透明度测量与年龄的相关系数均具有统计学意义（P < 0.001），数字方法的相关系数略高（r = 0.49）。将两种方法得出的线性回归方程应用于一个独立样本（n = 15），结果显示数字方法评估年龄的能力更强——60%的年龄估计值在实际年龄的±5岁范围内，而基于卡尺的方法为40%。数字方法取得的优异结果归因于在放大条件下获得的精确测量以及在薄牙齿切片数字图像上测量透明度的“免接触”方法。此外，本研究中使用的计算机硬件和软件随处可得且易于使用。考虑到这些优点，本报告建议使用数字方法评估透明度以估计年龄。
