# Age Assessment through Third Molar Teeth Developmental Stage in Children
## 4 Discussion  
People with unknown chronological age are not uncommon around the world, especially in developing countries. This may pose serious legal problems or rarely even lead to international conflicts [10]. In addition, age assessment is essential in relation to social regulations and state laws such as school attendance, social benefits, employment, and marriage and for differentiating between a juvenile and adult status in criminal law cases [1].  
Over the years, several studies on dental age assessment have been conducted. The mean chronological age for [PERSON]'s stages varies between studies, with a dental assessment accuracy of approximately one year [6, 11, 12]. However, it has been found that assessing the development of wisdom teeth is an essential and effective tool and that  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l} \hline  & \(\beta\) & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline Constant & 7.69 & \(<\)0.0001 \\ Developmental stage maxillary third molar & 0.72 & \(<\)0.0001 \\ Developmental stage mandibular third molar & 0.68 & \(<\)0.0001 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 2: Stepwise linear regression model. The constant as well as the included parameters (maximillary and mandibular developmental stage) were statistically significant.  
Figure 2: Mean comparison between males and females in the maxilla (**upper**) and mandible (**lower**). No statistical significance found between males and females regarding developmental stage difference.  
the degree of development of the wisdom tooth is a reliable indicator of the age of the subject [8,13-15].  
The current research found no difference in third molar developmental stage between males and females and a high correlation between the developmental degree of the third molar and the chronological age. These findings are consistent with other studies that also found no significant difference in the development of third molars between boys and girls but a close relationship between the degree of development of third molars and chronological age [2,8,16,17]. In contrast to most studies, [PERSON], who analyzed a population of 900 Turkish individuals, found a statistically significant difference between sexes in stages 4 and 7, with maturation occurring earlier in men than in women [18].  
The age of criminal responsibility differs worldwide, with a median age of 12 years and a range between 6 and 18 years [19]. This is important in the sense of juvenile delinquency (which refers to a crime committed by a person under the age of criminal responsibility), as children above that age can be arrested, detained, and imprisoned. Previous studies tried to predict a chronological age of 18 using third molar development, using the ratio between the apical pulp width and tooth length of the third molars [20,21]. However, using this ratio is more difficult to use for younger patients with non-developed roots, and therefore, the Demirjian stages were used [11,17]. A study conducted in China found that the probability of the subject being over 14 is over 50% when the third molar is at stage 4 but over 85% when the tooth is developed at stage 5 [22]. In the Spanish population, 14 years of age presents with at least stage 5 development, while 16 years of age presents with at least stage 7 development [23]. We found that, in developmental stage 5, the chronological age of the patient would be over 12 years old in 97% of cases for mandibular third molars and in 100% of cases for maxillary third molars. Patients with third molars at developmental stage 6 would be at least 14 years old in 100% of the cases, and for those at developmental stage 7, the patient would be 16 years or older.