Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years

Abstract Background Estimating the age of children and adolescents is a constant challenge for Forensic Anthropology and Legal Dentistry. The relevance of age estimation in living individuals is related to its contribution in civil and criminal contexts, particularly for age determination in adoptio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Isabella de Lima Silva, Brendha Ogando, Rosemary Sadami Arai Shinkai, Cláudio Costa, Hrvoje Brkić, Edgard Michel-Crosato, Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41935-025-00460-2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850104103847329792
author Isabella de Lima Silva
Brendha Ogando
Rosemary Sadami Arai Shinkai
Cláudio Costa
Hrvoje Brkić
Edgard Michel-Crosato
Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic
author_facet Isabella de Lima Silva
Brendha Ogando
Rosemary Sadami Arai Shinkai
Cláudio Costa
Hrvoje Brkić
Edgard Michel-Crosato
Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic
author_sort Isabella de Lima Silva
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Estimating the age of children and adolescents is a constant challenge for Forensic Anthropology and Legal Dentistry. The relevance of age estimation in living individuals is related to its contribution in civil and criminal contexts, particularly for age determination in adoption processes, criminal responsibility, pedophilia, lack of valid identification documents, as well as its application in migration and asylum requests in foreign countries. The objectives of the study were: to estimate the age of a sample of Brazilian children and adolescents using the Haavikko’s technique; and to verify the feasibility of using a technique variation for estimating the age of individuals at 10 years, which is the cutoff point at the original technique. The sample consisted of 399 panoramic radiographs, which were distributed according to sex and age: approximately 50 panoramic radiographs for each age (6 to 14 years), with 25 males and 25 females per age. The data were analyzed with the Python programming language, using the packages Matplotlib, Seaborn, Scipy.stats, and Numpy. Results The results showed strong intra-examiner agreement and similarity between actual and estimated age, with no measurement error exceeding 2.5 months. It is possible to estimate the age of individuals using the variation of the Haavikko’s technique, since the mean error was low (1.02 ± 0.62 and 0.89 ± 0.62, respectively). Conclusions We conclude that the technique is replicable and can be applied with a low error rate in the Brazilian population.
format Article
id doaj-art-0dfe7b6890df42dea8f5dbce0c5520ea
institution DOAJ
issn 2090-5939
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher SpringerOpen
record_format Article
series Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences
spelling doaj-art-0dfe7b6890df42dea8f5dbce0c5520ea2025-08-20T02:39:24ZengSpringerOpenEgyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences2090-59392025-06-011511810.1186/s41935-025-00460-2Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 yearsIsabella de Lima Silva0Brendha Ogando1Rosemary Sadami Arai Shinkai2Cláudio Costa3Hrvoje Brkić4Edgard Michel-Crosato5Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic6Universidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloUniversity of ZagrebUniversidade de São PauloUniversidade de São PauloAbstract Background Estimating the age of children and adolescents is a constant challenge for Forensic Anthropology and Legal Dentistry. The relevance of age estimation in living individuals is related to its contribution in civil and criminal contexts, particularly for age determination in adoption processes, criminal responsibility, pedophilia, lack of valid identification documents, as well as its application in migration and asylum requests in foreign countries. The objectives of the study were: to estimate the age of a sample of Brazilian children and adolescents using the Haavikko’s technique; and to verify the feasibility of using a technique variation for estimating the age of individuals at 10 years, which is the cutoff point at the original technique. The sample consisted of 399 panoramic radiographs, which were distributed according to sex and age: approximately 50 panoramic radiographs for each age (6 to 14 years), with 25 males and 25 females per age. The data were analyzed with the Python programming language, using the packages Matplotlib, Seaborn, Scipy.stats, and Numpy. Results The results showed strong intra-examiner agreement and similarity between actual and estimated age, with no measurement error exceeding 2.5 months. It is possible to estimate the age of individuals using the variation of the Haavikko’s technique, since the mean error was low (1.02 ± 0.62 and 0.89 ± 0.62, respectively). Conclusions We conclude that the technique is replicable and can be applied with a low error rate in the Brazilian population.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41935-025-00460-2Forensic dentistryAge determination by teethRadiographyPanoramicHaavikko´s technique
spellingShingle Isabella de Lima Silva
Brendha Ogando
Rosemary Sadami Arai Shinkai
Cláudio Costa
Hrvoje Brkić
Edgard Michel-Crosato
Maria Gabriela Haye Biazevic
Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences
Forensic dentistry
Age determination by teeth
Radiography
Panoramic
Haavikko´s technique
title Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
title_full Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
title_fullStr Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
title_full_unstemmed Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
title_short Haavikko’s technique for dental age estimation: Brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
title_sort haavikko s technique for dental age estimation brazilian application and technique variation at the age of 10 years
topic Forensic dentistry
Age determination by teeth
Radiography
Panoramic
Haavikko´s technique
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s41935-025-00460-2
work_keys_str_mv AT isabelladelimasilva haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT brendhaogando haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT rosemarysadamiaraishinkai haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT claudiocosta haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT hrvojebrkic haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT edgardmichelcrosato haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years
AT mariagabrielahayebiazevic haavikkostechniquefordentalageestimationbrazilianapplicationandtechniquevariationattheageof10years