Abstract Age estimation is one of the most important aspects of Forensic Medicine and Dentistry. Tooth development is a useful measure of age since it represents a series of recognizable events that occur in the same sequence. Skeletal maturation has been utilized for age estimation by identifying levels of ossification of individual bones from radiographs.
Aims and Objectives: The aim of the present study was to assess the Dental Age (DA) of Indian children and to compare with the Skeletal Age (SA). Material and Methods: Data of the estimated DA and SA of 164 individuals was retrospectively analyzed and based on it the individuals were divided into two groups; Group A had 139 individuals (with availability of proof of chronological age) and Group B had 25 individuals (with no evidence of proof of date of birth). DA estimation was done for all individuals using Dr. Dinkar’s Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis. The skeletal age was provided by the experts of Forensic Medicine. Mean absolute error (MAE) was calculated for DA and SA. The statistical analysis was carried out separately for both the groups using Students – t test and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test.
Results: MAE for DA and SA was less than 1 year for most of the age groups in Group A. Estimated DA and SA of all the individuals were in good agreement with their chronological age. Good correlation was seen for both age groups between DA and SA. The results of our study showed Dr. Dinkar’s method to be accurate upto 5.15 months of the chronological age.
Keywords: Dental Age Estimation; Skeletal Age Estimation; Dr Dinkar’s Qualitative and Quantitative Method; Forensic Odontology.