Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume 15, Issue 7 , Pages 426-429, October 2008

Studies of the chronological course of wisdom tooth eruption in a German population

  • A. Olze, PhD DDS (Dentist)

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Legal Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Turmstraße 21, 10559 Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • C. Peschke, DDS (Dentist)

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Legal Medicine, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Turmstraße 21, 10559 Berlin, Germany
    • ,
  • R. Schulz, MD (Physician)

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149 Münster, Germany
    • ,
  • A. Schmeling, PhD MD MA (Forensic Physician)

      Affiliations

    • Institute of Legal Medicine, University Hospital Münster, Röntgenstraße 23, 48149 Münster, Germany
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +49 251 51 556; fax: +49 251 51 558.

Received 1 October 2006; received in revised form 13 January 2008; accepted 8 February 2008.

Abstract 

Forensic age estimation in living subjects has gained increasing significance in recent years. In dental age estimation, tooth eruption is a parameter of developmental morphology that can be analyzed by either clinical examination or by evaluation of dental X-rays. In the present study, we determined the stage of wisdom tooth eruption in 144 male and 522 female German subjects aged 12–26 years based on radiological evidence from 666 conventional orthopantomograms. The results presented here provide useful data on the age of alveolar, gingival, and complete emergence of the third molars in the occlusal plane that can be utilized for the forensic estimation of the minimum and most probable ages of individuals under investigation.

Keywords: Age estimation, Dental age, Tooth eruption, Third molar, German population

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PII: S1752-928X(08)00035-8

doi:10.1016/j.jflm.2008.02.008

Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume 15, Issue 7 , Pages 426-429, October 2008

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