The use of dental CT for age profiling

The study provides evidence that conventional radiography has traditionally been the preferred modality of choice in dental age estimations. However, over the past decade, there has been a gradual increase of peer-reviewed publications that investigate the use of CT for age profiling in postmortem subjects. The primary research focus of this literature review was to determine whether CT could possibly replace conventional radiography and therefore become the primary modality for age estimations. From the publications reviewed, it can be concluded that the accuracy of CT imaging is comparable to conventional radiographs, delivering similar age predictions as well as error ranges. Although CT provides several advantages over conventional radiography including faster scanning times and the ability to view the oral cavity three-dimensionally; the radiation dose, especially to living subjects, and the associated costs involved limits its application in forensic environments. However, more research efforts on this subject is required to confirm its benefits in a forensic setting for dental age estimations.