Resumo

PRIETO, J.L.. Third molar maturation and age assessment: Evolution and state of the art. Cuad. med. forense [online]. 2008, n.51, pp.11-24. ISSN 1988-611X.

Demand for age assessment of young undocumented people is continually increasing and involves the need to protect the rights of minors recognised in the different international treaties and agreements when those below legal age are subject to legal action or simply seek asylum in a foreign country. In most of cases, interest focuses on determining the legal age of the person in question, in many countries whether they are 18 years old or younger. Age assessment must be as reliable and right as possible and the use of morphological methods based on radiological examination of dental and skeletal development is recommended. In recent years there has been a proliferation of studies focusing on third molar maturation as an age assessment method. The purpose is to obtain data that enable us a better understanding of the factors influencing the maturation of this tooth and establish more specific reference values which provide a more reliable diagnosis. This paper aims to carry out a brief review about the evolution of knowledge and state of the art in this field.

Palavras-chave : Forensic odontology; dental development; age assessment; third molar; asylum seekers.

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