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Table 1 Details of Gustafson’s method of age estimation and its modifications

From: Evolution of dental age estimation methods in adults over the years from occlusal wear to more sophisticated recent techniques

Author

Year and country

Sample size (n)

Formulaa

Error estimateb

Specifications

Gustafson (Gustafson 1950)

1950 Sweden

n=146 teeth

Age: 11.43 + 4.56X

where X equalled overall score

Standard error = ±3.4 years

Correlation r = 0.91

First histological method

Dalitz (Dalitz 1962)

1962 Australia

n= 146 teeth

(4 teeth per person)

Estimated age= 8.691+ 5.146A+ 5.338P+ 1.866S+ 8.411T

r = 0.88

Root resorption and cementum apposition can be disregarded

Bang & Ramm (Bang and Ramm 1971)

1970 Norway

n= 1013 teeth (only dentin translucency was considered)

Age= B0 + (B1aX) + (B2aX2)

Mean error = ±4.7 years

r = 0.61 to 0.83

Only intact roots measured and histologic sections might not reflect real limit of transparent dentin.

Johanson (Johanson 1971)

1971

n= 162 teeth

Age= 11.02+ (5.14 x A) + (2.3 x S) + (4.14 x P) + (3.71 x C) + (5.57 x R) + (8.98 x T)

±5.16 years

r= 0.92

Most appreciated method

Ground section to be 0.25 mm

Maples (Maples and Rice 1979)

1978 USA

n= 19 teeth

Root resorption had weakest correlation while best were secondary dentin and root transparency.

±7.03 years

r = 0.90

Simpler method

Kashyap & Koteshwar (Kashyap and Koteshwar Rao 1990)

1990 India

n= 25 teeth

Age= (A)+ (D)+ (T)+ (CE)/ 4

Average error = ±1.59 years

r = 0.998

More accurate, reliable, and reproducible method.

Lamendin (Lamendin et al. 1992)

1992 Orleans

n= 306 single rooted teeth

-

Mean error = ±8.4 years

Periodontal attachment level was criticized as a parameter.

Solheim (Solheim 1993)

1993 Norway

n= 1000 teeth of Caucasian population

-

r= 0.78 to r= 0.91 or r= 0.76 to r =0.89

Added 3 more parameters: Surface roughness, color of teeth, and gender of individual.

  1. For Bang and Ramm method—B0, B1, and B2: regression coefficients of Student’s test; X variable
  2. For Kashyap and Koteshwar method—A attrition, D secondary dentin, T translucency of root, CE cementum apposition
  3. aAbbreviations: A attrition, P periodontitis, S secondary dentin apposition, C cementum apposition, R root resorption, T root transparency
  4. bNote that the method of the error estimate in all the studies is not uniform