Liversidge and Molleson developed regression equations for predicting the age of pediatric human remains based on the length of permanent teeth, either grossly or in unmagnified radiographs. The increase in tooth length shows a curvilinear pattern with age, with rapid initial growth. The authors are from The Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry and the Natural History Museum in London.
Age range: from 0 to 19 years of age (pediatric age range)
Teeth examined:
(1) central incisor
(2) lateral incisor from maxilla
(3) lateral incisor from mandible
(4) canine
(5) first premolar
(6) second premolar
(7) first molar
(8) second molar
(9) third molar
mean age in years from central incisor =
= 1.0627 – (0.5654 * (length in mm)) + (0.1518 * ((length in mm)^2)) - (0.00765 * ((length in mm)^3)) + (0.00012 * ((length in mm)^4))
mean age in years from maxillary lateral incisor =
= (-0.4486) + (0.6520 * (length in mm)) - (0.0080 * ((length in mm)^2))
mean age in years from mandibular lateral incisor =
= 1.6016 – (0.8697 * (length in mm)) + (0.2249 * ((length in mm)^2)) - (0.01285 * ((length in mm)^3)) + (0.000233 * ((length in mm)^4))
mean age in years from canine =
= 0.0644 + (0.2530 * (length in mm)) - (0.0061 * ((length in mm)^2)) + (0.00962 * ((length in mm)^3)) - (0.000724 * ((length in mm)^4)) + (0.0000147 * ((length in mm)^5))
mean age in years from first premolar =
= 1.6140 + (0.5355 * (length in mm))
mean age in years from second premolar =
= 2.2326 + (0.5604 * (length in mm))
mean age in years from first molar =
= 0.1258 – (0.1992 * (length in mm)) + (0.1297 * ((length in mm)^2)) - (0.00832 * ((length in mm)^3)) + (0.00017 * ((length in mm)^4))
mean age in years from second molar =
= 0.1198 + (1.6049 * (length in mm)) - (0.1141 * ((length in mm)^2)) + (0.00341 * ((length in mm)^3))
mean age in years from third molar =
= 8.1775 + (0.6666 * (length in mm))
|
Tooth |
Standard Deviation (SD) |
Square Root of SD |
t value |
SQRT SD * t value |
|
central incisor |
0.348 |
0.6197 |
1.99 |
1.23 |
|
lateral incisor from maxilla |
0.609 |
0.7804 |
2.03 |
1.58 |
|
lateral incisor from mandible |
0.286 |
0.5348 |
2.03 |
1.09 |
|
canine |
0.470 |
0.6856 |
2.00 |
1.37 |
|
first premolar |
0.816 |
0.9033 |
2.03 |
1.83 |
|
second premolar |
1.009 |
1.0045 |
2.145 |
2.15 |
|
first molar |
0.381 |
0.6173 |
1.99 |
1.23 |
|
second molar |
0.539 |
0.7342 |
2.447 |
1.80 |
|
third molar |
2.184 |
1.4778 |
2.179 |
3.22 |
from Table 2, page 919
where:
• The t-value is for the number of teeth studied minus the order of the polynomial.
• The t-values are from Student's t-distribution, F = 0.975, page 536, CRC Standard Mathematical Tables, 25th Edition, 1978.
• An example for the calculation is given on page 920.
age estimate in years =
= mean age from regression equation +/- (SQRT SD * t-value)
Interpretation:
• All available teeth should be examined, with the final age estimate based on compilation of the individual results.
Specialty: Clinical Laboratory
