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Reliability in Age Determination by Pulp/Tooth Ratio in Upper Canines in Skeletal Remains
Author(s) -
Cameriere Roberto,
Brogi Giuseppe,
Ferrante Luigi,
Mirtella Dora,
Vultaggio Claudia,
Cingolani Mariano,
Fornaciari Gino
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2006.00159.x
Subject(s) - dentistry , medicine , pulp (tooth) , reliability (semiconductor) , orthodontics , forensic engineering , engineering , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
Estimation of age of skeletal remains is one of the most complex questions for anthropologists. The most common macroscopic methods are based on dental wear and histological evaluation of bone remodeling. These methods are often qualitative, require great technical expertise, and have proved inexact in the estimation of ages over 50 years. Certain dental methods investigate the apposition of secondary dentine, in the study of tooth cross‐sections, and X‐rays to study width, height, and pulp area. The primary author previously proposed a method of estimating the age of a living person based on the pulp/tooth ratio (PTR) method in the upper canines. The aim of the present study is to verify whether the PTR method can also be used to estimate the age at death of skeletal remains. This paper investigates the study of historical samples of known age as a means to validate the proposed method.