Historical Perspective and Recent Advances in Dental Age Estimation in Forensic Anthropology: A Review

Age is one of the essential factors, which play an important role in every aspect of life. Human identification is an important aspect of forensic medicine and dentistry. Age, sex, stature, and race or ancestry are the ‘big four’ which form the central focus of forensic anthropology and taphonomy. Chronological age, as recorded by registration of birth date, remains a significant factor in medico-legal jurisprudence and socio-political relevance. Dental age is considered to be vital in establishing the age of an individual as tooth development patterns are predictable and also showed strong correlation to chronological age. Different morphological stages of mineralization correlate with the different developmental stages. This review explores the historical development of dental age estimation methods, their application across different age groups, and the recent advances in dental age estimation techniques.