S. Prapanpoch et al., MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF THE DENTAL-PULP CHAMBER AS A METHOD OF AGE-DETERMINATION IN HUMANS, The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology, 13(1), 1992, pp. 50-55
Eighty bite-wing radiographs from 40 female and 40 male patients were
selected from the patient record system at the University of Texas Den
tal School at San Antonio, Texas. All samples were equally divided int
o four age groups, with a range from 15 to 55 years of age. The lower
right first permanent molar tooth was chosen as the representative too
th for measuring the maximum height and width of the pulp chamber. The
reproducibility of the method was checked by repeating all measuremen
ts on two different occasions. Regression analysis indicates that the
height and width of the pulp chamber were negatively correlated with a
ge (height r = -0.376 and width r = -0.125). The coefficient of determ
ination (r2) for pulp chamber height and width were 0.123 and 0.058, r
espectively. This indicates that although there appears to be a defini
te relationship between the age of an individual and the height and wi
dth of the dental pulp chamber, these measures cannot be used as a rel
iable method of age determination.