Cemental annulation: An approach to age estimation in transverse and longitudinal sections using three different microscopes

BACKGROUND: Estimation of age is an important aspect in determining a person's identity. Since teeth are resistant to decay and degradation, estimation of age using dental structures may be a valuable tool in human identification. Recent research suggests that tooth cemental annulation could be used as an effective method for age estimation than other morphologic or histological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 100 extracted teeth were chosen. Using a hard tissue microtome (SP 1600) longitudinal and transverse ground sections of 100 μm thickness of each tooth were prepared. It is further examined under light microscopy, polarized microscopy and phase-contrast microscopy. The images of longitudinal and transverse were magnified on a computer and the cemental lines were counted. RESULTS: The present study showed is a strong positive correlation for cemental annulation between the calculated age and estimated age when phase-contrast microscopy was used in both longitudinal and transverse sections when compared with other microscopes. The correlation coefficient value was found more significant in the longitudinal section which implies that the phase-contrast microscope was highly reliable and had a significant correlation (P < 0.001) with the actual age compared to other microscopes. CONCLUSION: Cemental annulation by various microscopes improves accuracy in the prediction of age and also it allows for age estimation in cases where skeletal fragments are poorly preserved.