Apical root dentin translucency as a tool for age estimation in forensic odontology – A cross sectional study

Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject that involves scientific assessment of blood samples, DNA, bones and teeth. It plays an important role in criminal investigations, although it is equally used in other sciences like archaeology, anthropology, biology and geology also.1 Forensic odontology is a branch of forensic science which aids in identifying humans after homicides, accidents, wars or natural calamities, using information obtained from the structures of the oral cavity. In the absence of the usual forensic evidences like fingerprints, dental indicators become much more valuable in the identification process. Teeth can play a vital role in estimating age, sex, personal habits, systemic health, race, socioeconomic status, occupation and dietary status of an individual.2 Age estimation is an important part of forensic sciences, and teeth are especially helpful in the age estimation process.3 Among the various dental age estimation methods in use today, factors like dentin color, attrition and periodontitis can be influenced by external forces and environment. Their role in age estimation becomes questionable when the teeth examined are affected by these factors. However, apical root dentin translucency is least influenced by them.2,4 Mineralisation apparently increases with advancing age. It is well accepted that, amount of translucent dentin increases with age and the expansion of translucency proceeds from the apical portion of tooth to the coronal portion.5,6 Therefore, measuring the amount of root dentin translucency can be useful as a tool for age estimation. Hence, we designed a study to determine the correlation between the chronological age and apical root dentin translucency and to assess whether apical translucency is a reliable method for age estimation of unknown.