Use of the Chronological Dental Mineralization Table of Nicodemo, Moraes and Medici Filho (1974) to Estimate Age by Undergraduate Dentistry Students

Objective: To evaluate the agreement and applicability of the Chronological Dental Mineralization Table of Nicodemo, Moraes and Medici Filho (1974) to estimate age held by undergraduate Dentistry students at the Federal University of Paraiba. Material and Methods: Field research applied with a sample of 50 students according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Sequentially, 3 panoramic radiographs were exposed (actual age known only by teachers), and students were instructed to interpret them from the selection of 2-4 teeth under formation. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (Statistical Package for Social Sciences), version 20.0, adopting significance level of 5%. Results: Most students chose 3 teeth, with percentages of 56.0% (n = 28); 38.0% (n = 19) and 58.0% (n = 29) for radiographs 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Teeth selected with greater frequency were: 47 (20.1%, n = 33) and 45 (19.5%, n = 32) - radiography 1; 38 (22.7%, n = 32) and 18 (13.4%, n = 19) - radiography 2; and 47 (17.9%; n = 26) and 36 (13.7%; n = 20) - radiography 3. The agreement between estimated and actual ages was 60.0% for radiography 1, 12.0% for radiography 2 and 32.0% for radiography 3. Age was underestimated in 40.0% (n = 20) and 88.0% (n = 44) in radiographs 1 and 2, respectively. Overestimation of the actual age occurred only in radiography 3 (68.0%; n = 34). The linear regression analysis revealed that it is possible to estimate the actual age from the maximum age stipulated by training students with 88.1% success rate. Conclusion: The method is applicable; however, the correlation between estimated and actual ages varied considerably among radiographs, and maximum estimated values were closer to the actual age than minimum values.