ArticleAmerican journal of biological anthropology2026
Validating Dental Histology for Perinatal Age Estimation Using Human Deciduous Teeth.
Article in American journal of biological anthropology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Validating Dental Histology for Perinatal Age Estimation Using Human Deciduous Teeth.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThis study tests the accuracy of dental histology for perinatal age estimation using deciduous teeth from modern human infants of known age. We evaluate whether enamel and dentin incremental structures, particularly the Neonatal Line (NNL), can be used to provide a reliable estimate of chronological age. SAMPLES AND
methodsSeventeen unerupted deciduous teeth from 14 full-term infants (0-164 days old) were analyzed from the Granada identified skeletal collection in Spain. Thin sections were examined under transmitted light and confocal microscopy to identify the NNL, cross-striations, and von Ebner's lines. Daily secretion rates (DSR) were measured across crown and root to calculate crown formation time (CFT) and root formation time (RFT), which were compared with the documented ages at death.
resultsMean enamel DSR was 3.38 μm/day, and mean root dentin DSR was 3.24 μm/day. Enamel DSRs varied between tooth types and crown regions. The NNL was identified in all individuals who survived birth and was absent in one stillbirth, confirming its reliability as an indicator of live birth. Prenatal CFTs fell within ranges reported for full-term gestation, supporting the interpretation that all individuals were born at term. Histologically derived ages differed from recorded ages by an underestimation of 8 to an overestimation of 1 day, with a mean difference of 1 day.
conclusionsDeciduous dental histology provides an accurate estimate of chronological age for human juveniles in the year after birth. These findings suggest that perinatal age estimates derived from dental histology can be applied in bioarchaeological and forensic contexts.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.