Age Assessment Practices by Dental Practitioners in Selected County Hospitals in Kenya

Background: Globally, individuals who do not possess authentic documentation of date of birth may require age assessment before accessing certain rights or facing legal consequences. The determination of age requires customization and a systematic multidisciplinary approach. Hence, professional and human rights organizations have established relevant guidelines. In Kenya, there is lack of a documented local policy on age assessment; nevertheless, the dentists working in public hospitals often receive patients for age assessment. In order to improve on local practices, there is need to investigate current age assessment procedures. Therefore, the objective of this study was to look at the age assessment methods in use currently. Methods The study design was cross-sectional. Data was collected prospectively from new patients who visited eight (8) selected public dental health facilities for age assessment during the study period 2019–2020.Patients were sampled through convenience sampling from randomly selected hospitals. Study variables included gender, estimated age and age assessment methods. The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The statistical significance was tested by Chi-square test. Results The study included 316 patients, 186(58.9%) males and 130(41.1%) females. The average age was 19.42 ± 12.33 years, with a range of 1.5–79 years. There were significantly (Χ 2 (7) = 39.883, p = 0.000) more children (248,78.5%) than adults (68,21.5%). The age was assessed through examination of presented documents, social history and review of eruption patterns. There was significant use of dental panoramic radiographs (210,66.5%) to review root formation ( Χ 2 (7) = 164.991, p = 0.000). Unspecified tooth maturity tables were used to deduce the dental age. Conclusion Age assessment was mostly indicated for children aged 18 years and below. Both non-medical and medical methods were applied in age assessment though devoid of any structured processes. Observation of eruption patterns and use of dental panoramic images to assess developing teeth were utilized in most patients. The dental age was assessed through the use of unspecified tooth maturity tables. There is need for further training on application and limitations of age estimation methods as well as development of a national protocol so as to ensure equality and provision of evidence based age assessment services.