Objectives: To investigate the age-related changes of the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility in individuals in East China, and to explore the feasibility of applying this method to determine whether an individual is 18 years or older.
Methods: A total of 1 280 oral panoramic images were collected from the 15-30 years old East China population, and the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility in all oral panoramic images was evaluated using OLZE 0-3 four-stage method, and the age distribution of the samples at each stage was analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Results: Stages 0, 1, 2 and 3 first appeared in 16.88, 19.18, 21.91 and 25.44 years for males and in 17.47, 20.91, 22.01 and 26.01 years for females. In all samples, individuals at stages 1 to 3 were over 18 years old.
Conclusions: It is feasible to determine whether an individual in East China is 18 years or older based on the mandibular third molar root pulp visibility on oral panoramic images.
目的: 研究华东地区个体下颌第三磨牙根管可见度的增龄性变化，探讨应用其判断个体是否年满18周岁的可行性。方法: 共收集1 280例华东地区15~30周岁人群的口腔全景片，应用OLZE等提出的方法（0~3 4个阶段）评估所有口腔全景片中下颌第三磨牙根管可见度，对各阶段的样本年龄分布进行描述性统计分析。结果: 男性首次出现阶段0、1、2、3的年龄分别为16.88、19.18、21.91、25.44岁，女性分别为17.47、20.91、22.01、26.01岁。所有样本中，阶段1~3的个体年龄均超过18周岁。结论: 基于口腔全景片中下颌第三磨牙根管可见度判断华东地区个体是否年满18周岁的方法具有一定的可行性。.
Keywords: age estimation; forensic anthropology; forensic dentistry; oral panoramic images; root pulp; third molar.