Studying eruption patterns of mandibular third molars for forensic age assessment: Introducing current reference data from a population of black South Africans.

INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of the eruption of mandibular third molars in orthopantomograms (OPGs) is a method of forensic age assessment. The objective of our study was to provide valid reference data for this trait within a population of black South Africans. The study was guided by the criteria for reference studies in age assessment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A study population from Pretoria, South Africa comprising 670 OPGs obtained from 338 black females and 332 black males aged between 15.00 and 25.97 years was analysed. All OPGs were performed for medical indication during the period from 2011 to 2022 and were retrospectively evaluated. From the 670 OPGs, a total of 1021 mandibular third molars were evaluated. The assessment of mandibular third molars was conducted using the staging scale presented by Olze et al. in 2012. Two experienced dentists evaluated the OPGs independently of each other. If the two examiners diverged in their assessments, a consensus stage was assigned. RESULTS: As expected, the mean, median and minimal age increased with higher stages for both teeth and both sexes. The minimum age recorded for stage D, indicating complete tooth eruption, was 15.79 years in females and 16.62 years in males. CONCLUSION: As it is the case for previous reference studies in other countries, placing exclusive reliance on the evaluation of mandibular third molar eruption is inadequate for ascertaining the age of majority among Black South Africans. Future studies need to examine if our results are transferable to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Age-related patterns in mandibular third molar eruption: presenting new forensic age assessment reference data from a Chinese population.

Valid reference data are essential for reliable forensic age assessment procedures in the living, a fact that extends to the trait of mandibular third molar eruption in dental panoramic radiographs (PAN). The objective of this study was to acquire valid reference data for a northern Chinese population. The study was guided by the criteria for reference studies in age assessment.To this end, a study population from China comprising 917 panoramic radiographs obtained from 430 females and 487 males aged between 15.00 and 25.99 years was analysed. Of the 917 PANs, a total of 1230 mandibular third molars were evaluated.The PANs, retrospectively evaluated, were performed for medical indication during the period from 2016 to 2021. The assessment of mandibular third molars was conducted using the staging scale presented by Olze et al. in 2012. Two independent examiners, trained in assessing PANs for forensic age estimation, evaluated the images. In instances where the two examiners diverged in their assessments these were subsequently deliberated, and a consensus stage was assigned.The mean age increased with higher stages for both teeth and both sexes. The minimum age recorded for stage D, indicating complete tooth eruption, was 15.6 years in females and 16.1 years in males. Consequently, the completion of mandibular third molar eruption was observed in both sexes well before reaching the age of 18. In light of our results, it is evident that relying solely on the assessment of mandibular third molar eruption may not be sufficient for accurately determining the age of majority. Contrary to previous literature, this finding of a completed eruption of the mandibular third molars in northern Chinese individuals is only suitable for detecting the completion of the 16th year of life in males according to our results. However, as the results are inconsistent compared to other studies in the literature, the trait should not be used as the only decisive marker to prove this age threshold in males from northern China.

Third molar eruption in dental panoramic radiographs as a feature for forensic age assessment - new reference data from a German population.

Forensic age assessment in the living can provide legal certainty when an individual's chronological age is unknown or when age-related information is questionable. An established method involves assessing the eruption of mandibular third molars through dental panoramic radiographs (PAN). In age assessment procedures, the respective findings are compared to reference data. The objective of this study was to generate new reference data in line with the required standards for mandibular third molar eruption within a German population. For this purpose, 605 PANs from 302 females and 303 males aged 15.04 to 25.99 years were examined. The PANs were acquired between 2013 and 2020, and the development of the mandibular third molars was rated independently by two experienced examiners using the Olze et al. staging scale from 2012. In case of disagreement in the assigned ratings, a consensus was reached through arbitration. While the mean, median and minimum ages were observed to increase with each stage of mandibular third molar eruption according to the Olze method, there was considerable overlap in the distribution of age between the stages. The minimum age for stage D, which corresponds to complete tooth eruption, was 16.1 years for females and 17.1 years for males. Thus, the completion of mandibular third molar eruption was found in both sexes before reaching the age of 18. In all individuals who had at least one tooth with completed eruption and who were younger than 17.4 years of age (n = 10), mineralization of the teeth in question was not complete. Based on our findings, the feature of assessing mandibular third molar eruption in PAN cannot be relied upon for determining age of majority.

The relevance of taurodontism in forensic dental age estimation.

Taurodontism is a dental morphological anomaly characterized by enlarged pulp cavities repositioned towards the apical region of the tooth, coupled with shortened root structures. Molars are commonly affected by this alteration. Certain populations exhibit up to 48% prevalences for this dental alteration, underscoring its significance in dental age estimation (DAE). In the field of DAE, an individual's chronological age is inferred from specific dental features, frequently employed within the forensic context. The effect of taurodontism on the features of DAE is an unanswered issue. The influence of taurodontism on eruption, mineralization, radiographic visibility of root canals, and radiographic visibility of the periodontal ligament space in mandibular third molars- some of the established criteria for DAE as examples-is currently not systematically examined. Some common staging scales for the dental features of DAE cannot technically be applied to taurodontic teeth. Additionally, given the association of taurodontism with syndromes affecting tooth development, caution is warranted in age assessment procedures. Notably, taurodontic teeth may serve as indicators of syndromes influencing skeletal development, further emphasizing the relevance of taurodontism in forensic age assessment. Presumably taurodontic teeth were included in reference data to some extent due to their partially high prevalence in the past, whereby the influence of taurodontism has been statistically absorbed within the overall spread of the features. Future studies should compare the temporal course of these tooth characteristics in affected and unaffected teeth. Subsequent initiatives should focus on raising awareness among forensic dentists regarding taurodontism, necessitating in-depth exploration of the subject.

Radiological assessment of periodontal ligament space visibility on third molars for forensic age assessment - a comparison study of three different staging scales.

Various staging scales have been proposed for the assessment of the visibility of the periodontal ligament space of mandibular third molars on dental panoramic radiographs (PANs) for forensic age assessment in living individuals. However, up to now, there has been no systematic comparison between these staging scales available. We directly compared the 2010 staging scale proposed by Olze et al. with the 2017 staging by Lucas et al. and the 2020 staging by Guo et al. in a German study population. We evaluated 233 PANs from 115 females and 118 males aged 20.0 to 40.9 years using three independent examiners, with one examiner conducting two assessments. We examined the correlation between age and stage, as well as the inter- and intra-rater reliabilities. While the point estimates for the correlation coefficient and the reliability measures were lowest for the Guo scale and highest for the Olze scale, confidence intervals showed a large overlap, particularly for the scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. The correlation coefficients between stage and age were consistently lower in females than in males across all methods. In summary, we showed that the staging scales of Olze et al. and Lucas et al. were very similar. The Olze method showed higher point estimates across all analyses, and because there are more reference data available for this method, we argue that it should be preferred as the method of choice for further studies in the field. However, Guo method could be considered for instances, in which the inter-radicular periodontal ligament is not evaluable.

Dental age assessment in the living: a comparison of two common stage classifications for assessing radiographic visibility of the root canals in mandibular third molars.

After dentition is complete, degenerative tooth characteristics can be used for dental age assessment. Radiological assessment of the visibility of the root canals of the mandibular third molars in dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) is known to be one such suitable feature. Essentially, two different stage classifications are available for evaluating the visibility of the root canals of mandibular third molars in the DPR. The aim of this study was to determine if one method outperforms the other. Therefore, the 2010 method of Olze et al. was directly compared to the 2017 method of Lucas et al. in the 2020 modification of Al Qattan et al. To this end, 233 DPRs from 116 females and 117 males aged 20.0 to 40.9 years were evaluated by three independent experienced examiners. In addition, one examiner ran two independent evaluations. Correlation between age and stage was investigated, and the inter- and intra-rater reliability was estimated for both methods. Correlation between age and stage was higher with the Olze method (Spearman rho 0.388 [95% CI 0.309, 0.462], males and 0.283 [95% CI 0.216, 0.357], females) than the Lucas method (0.212 [95% CI 0.141, 0.284], males and 0.265 [95% CI 0.193, 0.340], females). The intra-rater repeatability of the Olze method (Krippendorff's α = 0.576 [95% CI 0.508, 0.644], males and α = 0.592 [95% CI 0.523, 0.661], females) was greater than that for the Lucas method (intra-rater α = 0.422 [95% CI 0.382, 0.502], males and α = 0.516 [95% CI 0.523, 0.661], females). Inter-rater reproducibility was also greater for the Olze method (α = 0.542 [95% CI 0.463, 0.620], males and α = 0.533 [95% CI 0.451, 0.615], females) compared to the Lucas method (α = 0.374 [95% CI 0.304, 0.443], males and α = 0.432 [95% CI 0.359, 0.505], females). The method of Olze et al. was found to present marginal advantages to the Lucas et al. method across all examinations and may be a more appropriate method for application in future studies.

Philemon and Baucis death: a literature review.

Double death, i.e., two bodies at a scene, is relatively rare. The double death from natural causes of two close persons is called Philemon and Baucis death in the medicolegal literature. Despite being mentioned for the first time more than 50 years ago, all detailed case reports on this case constellation are from the last 15 years. A comprehensive review of the literature on this phenomenon has not yet been published. In this article, we review the available literature on Philemon and Baucis death. Pathophysiologically, it can be assumed that this phenomenon is a sub-form of so-called psychogenic death. Therefore, we equally review the literature on sudden cardiac death due to acute psychological stress.

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International journal of legal medicine-100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles, Part 4: International journal of legal medicine from 1990 to 2022.

This is the fourth and final paper in a series related to the analysis of articles published in this journal during its first 100 years of activity. This article covers the time span from 1990 to 2022. It is important to note that, given the period covered by this analysis, it does not aim to provide a historical overview but rather an examination of the most recent trends in our discipline compared to the past. Between 1990 (Volume 104) and 2022 (Volume 136), 4004 articles were published in the International Journal of Legal Medicine (IJLM) across 33 volumes. This corresponds to 53% of all the articles published since the launch of the journal. When compared to the period from 1970 to 1990, some categories no longer appear to be as relevant (e.g., sexual medicine, 1 article; social medicine, 0 articles; biography, 3 articles; history, 4 articles). Conversely, the most recent period has shown an increasing importance in forensic genetics (1388 articles) and the emergence of new significant topics that merit their own classification, such as age estimation (286 articles), forensic anthropology (189 articles), forensic imaging (150 articles), and forensic entomology (90 articles).

Third Molar Eruption in Dental Panoramic Radiographs as a Feature for Forensic Age Assessment-Presentation of a New Non-Staging Method Based on Measurements.

The evaluation of third molar eruption in dental panoramic radiographs (DPRs) constitutes an evidence-based approach for forensic age assessment in living individuals. Existing methodologies involve staging morphological radiographic findings and comparing them to reference populations. Conversely, the existing literature presents an alternative method where the distance between third molars and the occlusal plane is measured on dental plaster models. The aim of this study was to adapt this measurement principle for DPRs and to determine correlation between eruption and chronological age. A total of 423 DPRs, encompassing 220 females and 203 males aged 15 to 25 years, were examined, including teeth 38 [FDI] and 48. Two independent examiners conducted the measurements, with one examiner providing dual assessments. Ultimately, a quotient was derived by comparing orthogonal distances from the mesial cementoenamel junctions of the second and third molars to a simplified radiological occlusal plane. This quotient was subsequently correlated with the individual's age. We estimated correlations between age and quotients, as well as inter- and intra-rater reliability. Correlation coefficients (Spearman's rho) between measurements and individuals' ages ranged from 0.555 to 0.597, conditional on sex and tooth. Intra-rater agreement (Krippendorf's alpha) ranged from 0.932 to 0.991, varying according to the tooth and sex. Inter-rater agreement ranged from 0.984 to 0.992, with distinctions drawn for different teeth and sex. Notably, all observer agreement values fell within the "very good" range. In summary, assessing the distance of third molars from a simplified occlusal plane in DPRs emerges as a new and promising method for evaluating eruption status in forensic age assessment. Subsequent reference studies should validate these findings.

Third molar eruption in orthopantomograms as a feature for forensic age assessment-a comparison study of different classification systems.

Evaluation of third molar eruption represents an established method for age assessment of living individuals. Different classification systems are available for the radiological assessment of third molar eruption. The aim of this study was to identify the most accurate and reliable classification system for the mandibular third molar eruption on orthopantomograms (OPG). We compared the method of Olze et al. (2012) with the method of Willmot et al. (2018) and a newly derived classification system using OPGs from 211 individuals aged 15-25 years. The assessments were performed by three experienced examiners. One examiner evaluated all radiographs twice. The correlation between age and stage was investigated and the inter- and intra-rater reliability was estimated for all three methods. Correlation between stage and age was similar between classification systems, although higher in the data from males (Spearman's rho ranging from 0.568 to 0.583) than from females (0.440 to 0.446). Inter- and intra-rater reliability measures were similar across methods and invariant on sex, with overlapping confidence intervals, although the highest point estimates for both intra- and inter-rater reliability were for the method by Olze et al. with Krippendorf's alpha values of 0.904 (95% confidence interval 0.854, 0.954) and 0.797 (95% confidence interval 0.744, 0.850). It was concluded that the method of Olze et al. from 2012 is a reliable method for practical application and future studies.

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International Journal of Legal Medicine-100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles : Part 3: Zeitschrift für Rechtsmedizin-Journal of Legal Medicine from 1970 to 1990.

From volume 67 (1970) onwards, the journal appeared under the new bilingual title Zeitschrift für Rechtsmedizin-Journal of Legal Medicine. The editorial board was expanded and internationalised. From 1970 to 1990, 1416 articles were published in 36 volumes. 1036 articles were in German and 380 in English. The authors of 411 articles came from non-German-speaking countries. Compared to the periods under review in the first two parts of our article series, the proportion of papers on forensic genetics increased significantly between 1970 and 1990, with a small increase in publications on the identification of unknown dead bodies. An opposite trend was observed in the articles on forensic psychiatry and psychology, sexual medicine and social medicine. This development reflects a further sharpening of the discipline's profile.

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International Journal of Legal Medicine-100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles : Part 2: Deutsche Zeitschrift für die gesamte gerichtliche Medizin from 1948 to 1969.

The interruption of the publication of the Deutsche Zeitschrift für die gesamte gerichtliche Medizin due to the war ended with volume 39 for the years 1948/1949. Until volume 66/1969, the journal appeared unchanged under the historical title. The 912 publications contained in the 28 volumes of these two decades cover topics from the main fields of forensic medicine, but also from related and unrelated disciplines. The topic-specific analysis of the publications shows a shift of the research focus in the German institutes since the post-war period. This is most evident in the decline in the number of publications from the fields of scientific and technical criminalistics as well as forensic psychiatry and psychology. An opposite trend with a significant increase in scientific papers was observed in alcohology, forensic genetics and traffic medicine. While the evaluated publications on most topics contain new findings that are still valid today, the use of blood group characteristics for forensic purposes came to an end as a result of the introduction of DNA analysis.

From Deutsche Zeitschrift to International Journal of Legal Medicine-100 years of legal medicine through the lens of journal articles : Part 1: Deutsche Zeitschrift für die gesamte gerichtliche Medizin from 1922 to 1944.

From its launc h in 1922 to the end of the Second World War, the Deutsche Zeitschrift für die gesamte gerichtliche Medizin spanned 38 volumes. The 1762 papers contained in those volumes reflect contemporary interests and include many papers from peripheral fields and non-medico-legal disciplines. Publications concerned with issues outside core legal medicine fields in particular allow two distinct tendencies in the development of German institutes of legal medicine to be discerned. Firstly, there is a focus on the psychological and psychiatric aspects of the discipline. Secondly, there is tendency towards a scientific-criminalistic outlook. The fatal consequences of the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 did not spare the sciences. For legal medicine, a discipline with close links to the state, it is unsurprising that fundamental changes to the political system had a significant impact on subject matter. Leaving aside articles notable principally for their ideological content, our analysis of the 38 volumes shows that the papers examined contain new insights into many subjects, some of which are still valid today.

Mathematically optimal decisions in forensic age assessment.

Forensic age estimation generally involves considerable amounts of uncertainty. Forensic age indicators such as teeth or skeleton images predict age only approximately, and this is likely to remain true even for future forensic age indicators. Thus, forensic age assessment should aim to make the best possible decisions under uncertainty. In this paper, we apply mathematical theory to make statistically optimal decisions to age assessment. Such an application is fairly straightforward assuming there is a standardized procedure for obtaining age indicator information from individuals, assuming we have data from the application of this procedure to a group of persons with known ages, and assuming the starting point for each individual is a probability distribution describing prior knowledge about the persons age. The main problem is then to obtain such a prior. Our analysis indicates that individual priors rather than a common prior for all persons may be necessary. We suggest that caseworkers, based on individual case information, may select a prior from a menu of priors. We show how information may then be collected over time to gradually increase the robustness of the decision procedure. We also show how replacing individual prior distributions for age with individual prior odds for being above an age limit cannot be recommended as a general method. Our theoretical framework is applied to data where the maturity of the distal femur and the third molar is observed using MRI. As part of this analysis we observe a weak positive conditional correlation between maturity of the two body parts.

Postmortem investigation of fatalities following vaccination with COVID-19 vaccines.

Thorough postmortem investigations of fatalities following vaccination with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines are of great social significance. From 11.03.2021 to 09.06.2021, postmortem investigations of 18 deceased persons who recently received a vaccination against COVID-19 were performed. Vaxzevria was vaccinated in nine, Comirnaty in five, Spikevax in three, and Janssen in one person. In all cases, full autopsies, histopathological examinations, and virological analyses for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 were carried out. Depending on the case, additional laboratory tests (anaphylaxis diagnostics, VITT [vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia] diagnostics, glucose metabolism diagnostics) and neuropathological examinations were conducted. In 13 deceased, the cause of death was attributed to preexisting diseases while postmortem investigations did not indicate a causal relationship to the vaccination. In one case after vaccination with Comirnaty, myocarditis was found to be the cause of death. A causal relationship to vaccination was considered possible, but could not be proven beyond doubt. VITT was found in three deceased persons following vaccination with Vaxzevria and one deceased following vaccination with Janssen. Of those four cases with VITT, only one was diagnosed before death. The synopsis of the anamnestic data, the autopsy results, laboratory diagnostic examinations, and histopathological and neuropathological examinations revealed that VITT was the very likely cause of death in only two of the four cases. In the other two cases, no neuropathological correlate of VITT explaining death was found, while possible causes of death emerged that were not necessarily attributable to VITT. The results of our study demonstrate the necessity of postmortem investigations on all fatalities following vaccination with COVID-19 vaccines. In order to identify a possible causal relationship between vaccination and death, in most cases an autopsy and histopathological examinations have to be combined with additional investigations, such as laboratory tests and neuropathological examinations.

Age-dependent decrease in dental pulp cavity volume as a feature for age assessment: a comparative in vitro study using 9.4-T UTE-MRI and CBCT 3D imaging.

Evaluation of secondary dentin formation is generally suitable for age assessment. We investigated the potential of modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technology to visualize the dental pulp in direct comparison with cone beam computed tomography (CBCT). To this end, we examined 32 extracted human teeth (teeth 11-48 [FDI]) using 9.4-T ultrashort echo time (UTE)-MRI and CBCT (methods). 3D reconstruction was performed via both manual and semi-automatic segmentation (settings) for both methods in two runs by one examiner. Nine teeth were also examined by a second examiner. We evaluated the agreement between examiners, scan methods, and settings. CBCT was able to determine the pulp volume for all teeth. This was not possible for two teeth on MRI due to MRI artifacts. The mean pulp volume estimated by CBCT was consistently higher (~ 43%) with greater variability. With lower variability in its measurements, evaluation of pulp volume using the MRI method exhibited greater sensitivity to differences between settings (p = 0.016) and between examiners (p = 0.009). The interactions of single-rooted teeth and multi-rooted teeth and method or setting were not found to be significant. For examiner agreement, the mean pulp volumes were similar with overlapping measurements (ICC > 0.995). Suitable for use in age assessment is 9.4-T UTE-MRI with good reliability and lower variation than CBCT. For MRI, manual segmentation is necessary due to a more detailed representation of the interior of the pulp cavity. Since determination of pulp volume is expected to be systematically larger using CBCT, method-specific reference values are indispensable for practical age assessment procedures. The results should be verified under in vivo conditions in the future.