Comparison of Demirjian's Four Dental Development Methods for Forensic Age Assessment

• NCJ Number: 236896
• Journal: Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 56 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2011 Pages: 1610-1615
• Author(s): Sara J. Flood, B.Sc., M.F.Sc.; Warren J. Mitchell, B.Sc.; Charles E. Oxnard, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., D.Sc.; Berwin A. Turlach, Ph.D.; John McGeachie, B.D.Sc., D.Sc.
• Date Published: November 2011
• Length: 6 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Western Australia
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Based on the abstract first reported in the Journal of Comparative Human Biology [Flood S, Franklin D, Oxnard CE, Meyer J, Dadour I. Dental development assessment in Western Australian subadults. Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australasian Society for Human Biology; 2006 Dec 3-6; Melbourne. Ireland: Homo 2007;58:235–65].

Annotation

The aim of this study was to determine the comparative accuracy of Demirjian's four dental development methods for forensic age estimation in the Western Australian population.

Abstract

A sample comprising 143 individuals aged 4.6 to 14.5 years were assessed using Demirjian's four methods for dental development (original 7-tooth: M2, M1, PM2, PM1, C, I2, and I1; revised 7-tooth: M2, M1, PM2, PM1, C, I2, and I1; 4-tooth: M2, M1, PM2, and PM1; and an alternate 4-tooth: M2, PM2, PM1, and I1). When comparing all four methods, the 4-tooth method overestimated age in both males and females by 0.04 and 0.25 years, respectively. The original 7-tooth was least accurate for males, while the original 7-tooth, the revised 7-tooth, and the alternate 4-tooth were unsuitable for females. Therefore, the authors recommend the 4-tooth method to be used for forensic age estimation in Western Australian males and females, as it has the lowest overall mean deviation and the highest accuracy. (Published Abstract)