Content area
Abstract
The purpose of this paper was to explore the potential application of Root Pulp Visibility (RPV) to determine whether or not a subject of unknown date of birth is under or over the 18year threshold.
Patients, materials and methods
Two thousand Dental Panoramic Radiographs comprising equal numbers of females and males evenly distributed between the ages of 16 and 26 years were examined. All third molars were scored using the Anglo-Canadian 8 Stage Tooth Development system[1]. The Lower Left Third Molar was censored to avoid redundant data being included in the data array for the Age at Attainment of Stage H, the final stage of tooth development (Roberts et al., 2015[2]).
A filter cascade was applied to the data to select the data array for 1. Teeth in the final stage of development, 2. Female or male gender, 3. The definitive stage of RPV: RPV-A, RPV-B, RPV-C, or RPV-D.
Results
The Conclusion
RPV has an important role in unambiguously determining whether a subject is below or above the 18year threshold.