Usability of first molar teeth measurements for age and sex estimation in cone-beam computed tomography images

Abstract

Aim: The morphological changes in tooth structure due to aging gain importance in the adult period. These age-related changes can be used to determine age and sex. The aim of this study was to determine the usability of first molar tooth measurements obtained by cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in estimating chronological age and sex in Turkish study group. Materials and methods: Three-dimensional images of 332 patients older than 12 years of age with known chronological age and sex were evaluated by semi-automatic segmentation performed separately by two observers. Pulp volume and tooth volume were measured from maxillary or mandibular molar tooth in each patient. Simple linear regression analysis and discriminant function analysis were performed to estimate age and sex using the measurements. In addition, independent sample t-test was used to compare the measurements according to sex and tooth position. Results: Sex was estimated by maxillary first molar volume ratio in 76.6% of women and 56.3% of men. Age estimation (AE) with pulp/tooth volume ratio (PTVR) gave more effective results in males and maxillary first molars. Conclusions: In this study, it was found that maxillary first molar volume ratio gave more accurate results in males AE and in females’ sex estimation (SE).