Kvaal's method is a radiographic technique for adult dental age estimation. It is based on measuring which of the following on intraoral periapical radiographs?
- A Degree of occlusal attrition scored against standard charts
- B Length of the translucent zone in the root dentine
- C Ratios of pulp width and length to root width and length ✓
- D Count of incremental lines in acellular cementum
Correct answer: C. Ratios of pulp width and length to root width and length
Explanation
Kvaal's method uses standardised intraoral radiographs of selected teeth and calculates ratios between pulpal dimensions (width and length) and root dimensions (width and length). Because secondary dentine deposition progressively reduces pulp size with age, these ratios correlate inversely with chronological age and require no sectioning of the tooth. Root translucency is measured on sectioned teeth in Gustafson's and Bang and Ramm's work, cementum annulation requires histology, and attrition charts are morphological scoring systems.
Reference: Shafer's Textbook of Oral Pathology, 7th ed.
High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP
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