الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The precise determination of age is a crucial factor in criminal and civil proceedings, applicable to those who are deceased as well as those who are alive. The determination of the age of living individuals has a crucial role in various legal contexts, including but not limited to cases involving immigrants, refugees, individuals lacking documents, memory loss, pension eligibility, criminal culpability, and age verification. Forensic practitioners are vital in providing expert analysis and assessments that inform legal choices in these situations.
One of the benefits of dental age estimation is that teeth are subject to fewer external physical, chemical, or mechanical influences compared to other components of the skeletal system. Due to this rationale, the outcomes of dental age estimation have exhibited minimal fluctuation in relation to chronological age.
Numerous investigations have demonstrated a robust association between measurements of the pulp cavity and chronological age through the utilisation of periapical and panoramic radiography.Nevertheless, the efficacy of these traditional approaches has been constrained by some limitations, including picture distortion, superimposition, and magnification.
The objective of this work is to assess the precision of volumetric analysis in comparison to linear measurements on cone beam computed tomography images, with the intention of using these findings in the field of dental age estimation.
A retrospective study was conducted utilising cone beam computed tomography (CT) images of 1000 teeth from a sample of patients, consisting of 544 males and 456 females, spanning a wide range of ages between 15 and 60 years. The photos were exported in the DICOM file format, which is commonly used for 3D analysis and calculations in the field of Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine. The DICOM images were imported into two 3D software applications, namely Mimics image analysis software version 21 developed by Materialise in Leuven, Belgium, and Acteon imaging suite (AIS) 3D version 5.0 developed by the Acteon organisation in Roma, Italy.
The CBCT pictures were imported into the OnDemand software (Cybermed Inc., Seoul, Korea) for the purpose of conducting linear measurements. The images were acquired with a slice thickness of 1 mm. The measurements were conducted using a calliper with a precision of 0.01 mm. The scans were assessed in the coronal plane at the slice that exhibited the tooth in its entirety.
The prediction equations that were obtained from linear and volume measures and ratios exhibited the highest level of predictive capability, regardless of whether they were derived from Mimics or AIS. This was closely followed by the equations derived from volume ratio, again from either Mimics or AIS. The prediction equations obtained through the utilisation of volume ratios, whether generated from Mimics or AIS, exhibited superior predictive capability compared to equations derived from linear ratios. The prediction equations that were developed using linear measure had the lowest level of predictive capability.
Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been widely recognised as a valuable diagnostic imaging technique in the field of clinical dentistry. This is primarily attributed to its advantageous features, including little radiation exposure and the capacity to generate precise and reliable pictures with respect to size measurements. Image enhancing software such as Mimics and Acteon imaging suite (AIS) have the capability to utilise data obtained from cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans in order to recreate the pulp cavity and calcified tooth structures in three dimensions.
Hence, our research has underscored the significance of employing cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) in the process of dental age assessment.