A test to study the influence of impaction on mandibular third molar development and forensic age estimation in a sample of south Indian children and young adults.

It has been argued that the impaction of the third molars could result in delayed maturation, which, in turn, could affect age estimations in criminal proceedings. In view of this, the present study was undertaken to determine whether the impaction status could delay the chronological process of third molar mineralization in a sample of south Indian children and young adults. The orthopantomograms (OPGs) of 915 children and young adults of south Indian origin aged between 15 and 22 years were evaluated.