The application of the Kvaal method to estimate the age of live Korean subjects using digital panoramic radiographs.

Dental age estimation of the living is limited because observing the histological structure of teeth is difficult. Therefore, several methods have been proposed to estimate age by observing changes on dental radiographs of pulpal size caused by secondary dentin deposition. This study aims to evaluate the validity of the Kvaal method to estimate the ages of Korean subjects using digital panoramic radiographs and formulate regression equations for use in Korean subjects.

The chronology of second and third molar development in Koreans and its application to forensic age estimation.

The accuracy of forensic age estimation based on the chronology of second (M2) and third molar (M3) development was investigated using 2,087 orthopantomograms of Korean men and women aged between 3 and 23 years. The developmental stages of M2s and M3s in these subjects were classified using the criteria of Demirjian. Inter-observer reliability and statistical data on each stage of mineralization of M2s and M3s were evaluated.

The diversity of dental patterns in the orthopantomography and its significance in human identification.

The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of orthopantomography for human identification. Three hundred orthopantomograms were randomly selected from those stored at Dental Hospital of Yonsei University in Seoul. Dental patterns observed in the orthopantomograms were converted into eight codes and their diversity was calculated.