Queen Mary University of London, Institute of Dentistry, London, E1 2AD, UK.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2014 May;154(1):70-8. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22473. Epub 2014 Jan 28.
Dental age estimation charts are frequently used to assess maturity and estimate age. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of estimating age of three dental development charts (Schour and Massler, Ubelaker, and the London Atlas). The test sample was skeletal remains and dental radiographs of known-age individuals (N = 1,506, prenatal to 23.94 years). Dental age was estimated using charts of Schour and Massler, Ubelaker, and The London Atlas. Dental and chronological ages were compared using a paired t-test for the three methods. The absolute mean difference between dental and chronological age was calculated. Results show that all three methods under-estimated age but the London Atlas performed better than Schour and Massler and Ubelaker in all measures. The mean difference for Schour and Massler and Ubelaker was -0.76 and -0.80 years (SD 1.27 year, N = 1,227) respectively and for the London Atlas was -0.10 year (SD 0.97 year, N = 1,429). Further analysis by age category showed similar accuracy for all three methods for individuals younger than 1 year. For ages 1-18, the mean difference between dental and chronological ages was significant (P < 0.05) for Schour and Massler and Ubelaker and not significant (P > 0.05) for the London Atlas for most age categories. These findings show that the London Atlas performs better than Schour and Massler and Ubelaker and represents a substantial improvement in accuracy of dental age estimation from developing teeth.
牙龄评估图表常用于评估成熟度和估计年龄。本研究旨在评估三种牙发育图表（Schour 和 Massler、Ubelaker 和伦敦图谱）估计年龄的准确性。测试样本为骨骼遗骸和已知年龄个体的牙 X 光片（N=1506，从产前到 23.94 岁）。使用 Schour 和 Massler、Ubelaker 和伦敦图谱评估牙龄。使用配对 t 检验比较三种方法的牙龄和实际年龄。计算牙龄和实际年龄之间的绝对平均差异。结果表明，所有三种方法都低估了年龄，但在所有指标中，伦敦图谱的表现均优于 Schour 和 Massler 和 Ubelaker。Schour 和 Massler 和 Ubelaker 的平均差异分别为-0.76 和-0.80 岁（SD 1.27 岁，N=1227），而伦敦图谱为-0.10 岁（SD 0.97 岁，N=1429）。进一步按年龄类别进行分析，发现所有三种方法在 1 岁以下的个体中具有相似的准确性。对于 1-18 岁的个体，Schour 和 Massler 和 Ubelaker 的牙龄与实际年龄之间的平均差异具有统计学意义（P<0.05），而伦敦图谱在大多数年龄类别中不具有统计学意义（P>0.05）。这些发现表明，伦敦图谱的表现优于 Schour 和 Massler 和 Ubelaker，代表了从发育牙齿中估计牙龄准确性的重大改进。
