SOUNDNESS EVALUATION

100-Age,add 5 points for every year different than advertised

Estimating age from nine to twenty years, and on to thirty, becomes rather involved. The cups turn into "dental stars." The shape of the tooth changes from an oval to a triangle, as well as becoming longer, protruding.

Dental stars and triangle teeth:

A seven year-old mouth:

Fifteen year-old mouth showing the Galvayne's Groove:

The most reliable is the Galveyne's Groove, which appears on the upper corner incisor. Measure how far this dark line extends from the gum down the length of the tooth. Half-way indicates fifteen years. When it reaches the bottom, figure twenty.

After that, there is a noticeable gap between adjacent teeth, and the Galvayne's Groove begins to disappear at the same rate, from top to bottom, to age thirty.