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Cementochronology. Pathologies, Lifestyle and the Estimation of Age in Adult Individuals

Procopio, Noemi and Perrone, Valentina (2022) Cementochronology. Pathologies, Lifestyle and the Estimation of Age in Adult Individuals. [DataSet] (Submitted)

Description

Cementochronology is a technique that relies on the circannual incremental growth of the dental cementum (also known as Tooth Cementum Annulation, or TCA) for age estimation. The tissue is deposited ca. every six months in darker and lighter increments in a biological mechanism that has not yet been clarified. Numerous controversies and inconsistencies concerning this technique stem from the uncertainty of this tissue’s biology, which makes the validation of cementochronology still strongly debated. In this study 59 pathological single-rooted teeth were analysed for estimation of age and season at death. Teeth were extracted for pathological reasons and sectioned with a diamond wire saw. Results of age and season estimation obtained with the traditional methods for cementochronology were compared to those obtained through multiple linear regression models, concluding that the use of measurements and statistical methods could significantly improve the accuracy of the estimates. Further observations were also carried out in terms of pathologies and lifestyle, as to find new pathways of investigation into the biology of the cementum incremental pattern. Particularly noteworthy was the effect that smoking seemed to have on the tissue, reducing its thickness and altering its microstructure. Future studies addressing the biology of the cementum and its increments are strongly recommended in order to bring the cementochronology a step forward in its validation as a reliable anthropological technique.

Research / Data Type: Dataset
Keywords: TCA; Forensic odontology; Age estimation
DOI: 10.17030/uclan.data.00000357
Depositing User: Noemi Procopio
Date Deposited: 06 Dec 2022 12:23
Revision: 14
URI: https://uclandata.uclan.ac.uk/id/eprint/357

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