Maximum length of deciduous dentition as an indicator of age during the first year of life: methodological validation in a contemporary osteological collection

Abstract

Out of all the available methods for estimating age at death from immature human skeletal remains, those based on odontometric variables of deciduous dentition have proved to be one of the most accurate. The development of odontometric methods has been improved through the creation of documented human osteological collections, allowing their validation in different populations. The present study aims to test the regression equations for age estimation proposed by Liversidge et al. 1993, Irurita Olivares et al. 2014, and Cardoso et al. 2019, on the basis of the maximum length of deciduous teeth in an Argentinian sample of 35 infants of known age at death. The results showed that the absolute mean difference between estimated and chronological age was 5.76 ± 6.33 weeks for Liversidge’s method, 5.71 ± 6.41 weeks for Irurita Olivares’s method, and 6.79 ± 5.80 for Cardoso’s method. It was also found that, for Liversidge’s method, the canines provided the most accurate and the least biased estimations. For Irurita Olivares’s method, mandibular anterior teeth were the most accurate, while the first mandibular molars offered the least biased estimations. For Cardoso’s method, the canines presented the most accurate estimations, while the lateral incisors the least biased ones. Finally, 95% confidence intervals of estimated ages were calculated for each method, finding that Irurita Olivares’s method provided the most reliable age estimations when using mandibular central incisors and mandibular first molars.