A new method to estimate dental age

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of Demirjian's method in estimating the dental age in Turkish children and to estimate the validity of Demirjian's standards for the studied population. Materials and methods. Panoramic radiographs of 756 northwestern Turkish children aged 5–13 years were examined. The new method for dental age estimation for both genders was studied to determine the relationship between dental age, chronological age and Demirjian's scores. Descriptive statistics were used and analysis of correlation was carried out between chronological age, dental age and Demirjian's scores. The difference between dental age and the chronological age was determined with the paired t-test. Results. The results showed that northwestern Turkish children had delays in dental maturity. The new method was applied to Demirjian's scores and dental age scales for both genders were obtained. The tables were used to adapt Demirjian's scores to dental age determination in Turkish children using the new formula. Conclusions. The developmental standards used by Demirjian are not suitable for northwestern Turkish children. The methods for determining dental development must have population-specific standards. The established gender-specific equations and the new tables are more appropriate for dental age assessment in northwestern Turkish children.

Key Words::

• age estimation
• dental age
• Demirjian
• developmental indicators

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the biostatistician A. Rana Konyalıoğlu for her help in performing the statistical analysis and developing the population-specific formula for the Turkish children.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.