The correlation between the tooth wear of the first molar and the estimated age from the auricular surfaces in a Joseon Dynasty population, South Korea

AbstractDental wear is widely accepted as a physiological consequence of aging, and its evaluation can be a simple tool with which to estimate the age at death of an adult. However, previous studies indicate that age estimation based solely on dental wear is not reliable and does not clarify how the degrees of dental wear are used to reach a final age estimation. Furthermore, most techniques used to measure dental wear rely on an ordinal scale despite the fact that dental wear is a gradual loss. In the present study we measured the area of exposed occlusal dentine using digital photographs and compared it to estimated age based on changes in the auricular surfaces of the ilia in order to evaluate the relationship between these variables. The amount of exposed dentine on the occlusal surface of the first molar and the degeneration on the auricular surfaces of ilia are moderately correlated. The age estimation method of dental wear should be combined with other methods that demonstrate a strong correlation with age.
Source: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology - Category: Science Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research