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The eruption times of permanent teeth and the sequence of tooth eruption were investigated in 1000 individuals aged 5 to 13 years (female: 469, male: 531). Wisdom teeth were excluded from the evaluation. All individuals were inhabitants of Latakia (Syria). The results were compared to dentition studies originating from neighbour countries and Germany, published in recent years. The teeth emerged symmetrically in each jaw. However, teeth erupted earlier in the mandible than in the maxilla, excluding the slightly earlier eruption of maxillary premolars and first molars. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla of females is: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, second premolar, canine, and second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible of females differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, canine, second premolar, second molar. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla of males is: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, second premolar, canine, and second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible of males differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, canine, second premolar, second molar. The results of this study show some differences compared to the dentition of children and adolescents of other countries, emphasizing the need for further dentition studies to be performed in defined regions and obtained by the same method. Concerning the demands of forensic odontology the age of Syrian children might be underestimated if German standards for age estimation are used.

The eruption times of permanent teeth and the sequence of tooth eruption were investigated in 1,856 individuals aged 4 to 24 years (female: 912, male: 944). Wisdom teeth were excluded from the evaluation. All individuals were inhabitants of the German state of Saarland. The results were compared to results of national and international studies on tooth eruption of the 20th century and studies published in recent years. The teeth emerged symmetrically in each jaw. However, teeth erupted earlier in the mandible than in the maxilla, excluding the slightly earlier eruption of maxillary premolars and first molars in males. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla of females is: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, canine, second premolar, and second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible of females differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar, second molar. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla of males is: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, second premolar, canine, and second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible of males differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, canine, second premolar, second molar. The results of this study are in accordance with those from other current studies of German federal states, obtained by the same method.

The eruption times of permanent teeth and the sequence of tooth eruption were investigated in 952 individuals aged 4 to 24 years. Wisdom teeth were excluded from the evaluation. All individuals were inhabitants of Tehran, Iran. The results were compared to results of international studies on tooth eruption of the 20th century and studies published in recent years. The teeth emerged symmetrically in each jaw. However, teeth erupted earlier in the mandible than in the maxilla, excluding the earlier eruption of maxillary premolars. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla is: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, second premolar, canine, and second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar, second molar. The sequence of all teeth is: lower first molar, lower central incisor, upper first molar, upper central incisor, lower lateral incisor, upper lateral incisor, upper first premolar, lower canine, lower first premolar, upper second premolar, upper canine, lower second premolar, lower second molar, and upper second molar. The results support current theories that the differences in tooth eruption times between humans of different ethnic origin are small.

The eruption times of permanent teeth and the sequence of tooth eruption were investigated in 1535 individuals aged 3 to 24 years. Wisdom teeth were excluded from the evaluation. All individuals were inhabitants of Paderborn, Westphalia, Germany. The results were compared to results of other German studies on tooth eruption of the 20th century. The teeth emerged symmetrically in each jaw. However, teeth erupted earlier in the mandible than in the maxilla. Teeth erupted earlier in females than in males. The sequence of emerging teeth in the maxilla is identical in both sexes: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, first premolar, and canine, second premolar, second molar. The sequence of tooth eruption of the mandible is identical in both sexes but differs from the maxillary sequence: first molar, central incisor, lateral incisor, canine, first premolar, second premolar, second molar. Since the fifties of the last century the acceleration of teeth emergence has not increased in German studies on this subject.

The human teeth are a valuable source of information concerning identification and age calculation in forensic sciences. Dental treatment often causes permanent alteration of the teeth, which is visible on radiographs. The correlation of prosthetic restorations, root canal fillings and periodontal bone loss with chronological age has not yet been used for determining the completed 18th year of life in teenagers and young adults, e. g. for legal and anthropological purposes. The aim of this study was to determine whether the evaluation of such findings on radiographs correlates with the chronological age in teenagers and young adults.The dental X-rays (orthopantomogram, OPG) of 1053 outpatients (age: 14 to 24 years) were avaluated. The values "prosthetically restored", "filled dental root", or "periodontal bone loss" were recorded for each tooth present. The data were then evaluated using statistical tools.The correlation between the number of prosthetically restored teeth and the chronological age is high. The positive predictive value of determining an age of at least 18 years proved to be very high. However, these findings are rarely present in this age group. The number of endodontically treated teeth correlated less exactly with age. On the other hand, the determination of periodontal bone loss gave reasonable positive predictive values for the threshold value "chronological age of 18 years or more".This study provides for the first time predictive values for the estimation whether a person is 18 years of age, based on the evaluation of teeth with prosthetic restorations, root canal fillings or periodontal bone loss on OPGs only. Whereas the number of patients with such findings is generally low in this age group, some of the positive findings can be used for age estimation as an adjunct to other sources of age calculation. The sole application of these criteria is not recommended, as sanitary conditions of the teeth depend on both social and individual circumstances. Therefore, the calculated values also reflect the culture of the sample studied. Finally, they are time-dependent and have to be compared to data from other populations. These results have some bearing on the field of forensic odontology.

The human teeth are a valuable source of information concerning identification and age calculation in forensic sciences. Dental treatment often causes permanent alteration of the teeth, which is visible on radiographs. The correlation of decayed, missing or filled teeth and chronological age has not yet been used for determining the accomplished 18th year of life in teenagers and young adults, e. g. for legal and anthropological purposes. The aim of this study was to determine whether the evaluation of these findings on radiographs correlates with the chronological age in teenagers and young adults.The dental X-rays (orthopantomograms, OPG) of 1053 outpatients (age: 14 to 24 years) were evaluated. The values "decayed", "missing", or "filled" were recorded for each tooth present. The data were then calculated using statistical tools.The correlation between the number of missing teeth and the chronological age is low. However, the positive predictive value of determining the age of 18 years for certain types of teeth proved to be very high, even up to 100 %. Further, high numbers of filled teeth gave reasonable positive predictive values for an age of 18 years. The number of decayed teeth did not correlate with age.This study provides for the first time predictive values for the estimation whether a person is 18 years of age, based on the evaluation of decayed, missing or filled teeth on OPGs only. Whereas the number of patients with such findings is generally low in this age group, some of the positive findings can be used for age estimation as an adjunct to other sources of age calculation. The sole application of these items is not recommended, as sanitary conditions of the teeth depend on both social and individual circumstances. Therefore, the calculated values also reflect the culture of the sample studied. Finally, they are time-dependent and have to be compared to data from other populations. These results have some bearing on the field of forensic odontology.

Dental findings are an important source of information regarding forensic-odontologic determination of identity and age. A main part of dental age assessment is the determination of the wisdom teeth' development. The aim of this study was to answer the question whether the development of wisdom teeth can give information for the task of individual age estimation. Thereby, the investigation could contribute to age estimation efforts that are carried out on persons with an unknown age and where it is of high importance to know as exactly as possible the age of a person, e.g. the age of 18 years or older, for determining the punishment for a criminal offence.The orthopantomograms of 1053 outpatients were evaluated. The patients were aged 14 to 24 years. The developmental stages of the wisdom teeth were determined according to Demirjian. The data were calculated using statistical tools, like descriptive and inferential statistics in order to provide predictive values for the age to be above or below 18 years.The correlation between the developmental stages of wisdom teeth and the chronological age was high in general. Some values allowed the prediction of an age above 18 years with a probability of more than 70% to 80%, in some instances even more than 90%. The most appropriate developmental stage to determine the age of 18 years was A 1/2 (completed root development, apex open). The positive predictive value of this finding was 94%.This study provides for the first time predictive values for the estimation whether or not a person is 18 years of age, based on the evaluation of developmental stages of wisdom teeth on orthopantomograms only. These results should be compared to data from other populations gained by the same method.

Dental findings are an important source of information regarding forensic-odontologic determination of identity and age. A main part of forensic-odontologic findings is the determination of the wisdom teeth' development. The aim of this study was to answer the question whether the topography of the wisdom teeth influences the development of the teeth. Thereby, the investigation could contribute to age estimation efforts that are carried out on persons with an unknown age and where it is of great importance to precisely determine a person's age, e. g. the age of 18 years or older.The orthopantomograms of 1053 outpatients were evaluated. The patients were aged 14 to 24 years. The developmental stages of the wisdom teeth were determined according to Demirjian. The retention types were classified according to Archer (maxilla) and Wolf and Haunfelder (mandible). The data were calculated using statistical tools, like descriptive and inferential statistics in order to provide predictive values for the age to be above or below 18 years.The correlation between the developmental stages of wisdom teeth and the chronological age was high in general. Some values allowed the prediction of an age above 18 years with a probability of more than 70 % to 80 %, in some instances even more than 90 %. The topography of the wisdom teeth did not influence the timing of the root development. The sexual dimorphism of tooth development was not present in the development of wisdom teeth.This study provides for the first time evidence for the assumption that radiographs of the teeth in adolescents and young adults can be used for the age estimation, irrespective of the topography of the wisdom tooth. These results should be compared to data from other populations gained by the same method. The conclusions of this study might be useful in the field of forensic odontology.

The analysis of panoramic radiographs of the jaws for forensic purposes is well established. The dental findings on the radiographs give valuable information concerning the identity and possible age. Panoramic radiographs also depict the zygomatic arches. Pneumatized spaces of the temporal bone's zygomatic arch process are asymptomatic variations, entitled "zygomatic air cell defect" (ZACD). Data on ZACD prevalence might support the current forensic-odontologic practice in the fields of identification and age assessment. The authors analyzed 6 studies subjected to evaluate ZACD on panoramic radiographs. The out-patients were subjected to systematic radiography prior to treatment planning in specialized dental or maxillofacial surgery clinics. The age of the 7870 patients varied between 6 and 97 years. ZACD was found in 169 patients (prevalence: 2.32%; female: 56.12%, male: 43.9%). Most ZACD were unilateral (70%). In these studies no ZACD occurred in children younger than 7 years of age. There was no statistically significant difference concerning ZACD prevalence in the sub-groups of children aged 9 to 13 vs. 14 to 17 years. This review demonstrates the prevalence of ZACD on orthopantomograms. The prevalence of this finding in the investigated children does not differ from the prevalences reported for adults, and is low in general. The presence of ZACD in persons might be valuable for the identification of humans or human remains and for age estimation in addition to other physical and dental findings.

This report is about a bite mark on the breast of a female corpse. The woman had been killed by ligature strangulation at the age of 76 years. The investigation of the dental casts of a suspected man showed some anomalies in the dentition and orthodontic variations. A comparison of the bite mark with these anomalies demonstrated the correspondence of several details. Consequently, the probability that the suspect was responsible for the bite mark was regarded as being very high. During the further investigations the suspect admitted the offence including the bite injury to the breast. The authors emphasize the importance of an exact photographic documentation as an indispensable prerequisite for an odontological comparison.