# Estimation of Age in Humans Using Dental Translucency of Permanent Teeh: An Experimental Study
## 4 Discussion  
Age estimation constitutes a fundamental goal of Forensic Anthropology in the process of identifying unknown human skeletal remains. Using teeth for age estimation overcomes some of the difficulties that arise from using other anthropological methods based on degenerative changes in bone [17; 25]. An additional factor in favor of the application of dental methods is the greater probability of tooth preservation compared to other skeletal elements, even in adverse environments, such as in post-conflict or natural disaster grave sites [26]. Moreover, fieldwork under these difficult conditions makes the RDT method par \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Total (n = 20)**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Males (n = 10)**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Females (n = 10)**} \\ \hline
**Equations** & **Bias** & **Precision** & **Inaccuracy** & **Bias** & **Precision** & **Inaccuracy** & **Bias** & **Precision** & **Inaccuracy** \\ \hline This study & \(-1.8\) & \(11.5\) & \(8.8\) & \(1.5\) & \(10.1\) & \(8.1\) & \(-5.1\) & \(12.5\) & \(9.5\) \\ \hline [PERSON] and [PERSON] [19] & \(-6.7\) & \(17.5\) & \(14.2\) & -\(3.0\) & \(19.7\) & \(15.4\) & \(-10.5\) & \(15.1\) & \(13.0\) \\ \hline [PERSON] et al. [11] & \(-2.7\) & \(13.8\) & \(9.8\) & \(3.2\) & \(10.8\) & \(8.8\) & \(-8.7\) & \(14.5\) & \(10.9\) \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 6: Bias, precision, and inaccuracy were calculated by applying the equation proposed in this study, [PERSON]’s and [PERSON]’s equations on the holdout sample. Figure 1: Scatterplot showing the quadratic correlation and the 95% prediction (red line) between root height translucency (RHT) and chronological age (CA). The blue line represents the regression line. Blue dots represent males, and pink dots females. ticularly advantageous because it does not need specific instrumentation [26]. Other dental methods used in age estimation include Tooth Cementum Annulations (TCA) and total cementum thickness measurement, both involving histological techniques, while aspartic acid racemization requires a mass spectrometric analysis. Unlike the above methods, the RDT is a non-destructive, simple method and requires no special technical equipment [27]. The method of RDT for age-at-death estimation is based on a specific characteristic of the dentin that becomes translucent with increasing age. The translucency of dentin is a result of increased intratubular mineralization and is first observed in the apical part of the tooth due to the smaller diameter of the dentinal tubules in the root dentin than in the coronal part [11]. In this study, our purpose was to validate this French technique in a sample of Italian adults allowing the method to be extended to a different population than the one in which it was developed [6] or validated (among others: [8; 15; 16; 17]). Current research gives support for the application of the dental translucency method in adult age estimation. We found good/excellent inter- and intra-operator reliability for all dental measurements taken. In particular, RHT reliability was excellent for multi-rooted teeth. Previous studies had shown a greater association of CA with RDT than with other techniques, reporting correlation coefficients between 0.65 and 0.87 [11; 19; 28; 29]. Our results, with values of the r coefficient being within this range for the total sample, confirm the strong association between RHT and CA. However, this association decreases with age since there would be slower development of translucency in old age because of a possible delay in this process in the root's coronal part [11; 19]. The increase of RDT with increasing age is generally deemed a physiological change with aging [30]. Moreover, errors in estimating the age of older people may result from the fact that root shortening may mask the concomitant increase in root translucency [16].