A review of the medical diagnostic techniques for forensic age estimation (FAE) in minors (1st part)

Age estimation presents a complex problem and requires considerable experience in recognizing significant changes and allowing for their variability within any particular population. No age estimation method or group of methods today can determine the exact chronological age of a child. The different methods are associated with varying degrees of uncertainty and precision. Because the assessment of whether a person is an adult or not, is a constant challenge for forensic science, the aim of present paper is to describe the medical testing techniques used for age assessment in minors with the purpose of determining the most accurate technique for age estimation.