Age estimation methods using cervical vertebrae maturation and dental development - A scoping review

This study is a scoping review that aims to map and synthesize the most relevant research employing cervical vertebral maturation and dental development in age estimation in subadults and young adults, highlighting the main results found. The research methodology will include consultation of the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases, without publication or language restrictions. For gray literature, the Google Scholar platform will be considered. In accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Joanna Briggs Institute's JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis for scoping reviews, the search strategy will be initially defined using terms from the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) and keywords in MEDLINE via PubMed. These terms and keywords will be formulated based on the research's guiding question. The screening and selection of titles and abstracts will be conducted independently by two researchers, adhering to the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). The results obtained from the databases will be exported to the Rayyan application, where evidence selection will take place. Studies that meet the eligibility criteria will be selected for full-text reading and subsequent extraction of relevant data. Finally, the implications of the main findings, such as an overview of the concepts, themes, and types of evidence available, will be described and critically discussed, in addition to being presented in tables, figures, and flowcharts.