Dental age assessment: The applicability of Demirjian method in southwestern of eastern Anatolia region Turkish children

Abstract

Objectives: Age estimation plays an important role in forensic medicine and orthodontics. Many methods of ageestimation have been suggested. Demirjian method is the most frequently used one of these. In the literature,there is a little known about applicability of this method in Turkish children. The aim of the present study was toevaluate the reliability of Demirjian method of dental age estimaiton and for description of mandibularpermanent tooth formation in Turkish children from the southwest Eastern Anatolia region. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was performed on 1015 panoramic radiographs and 5-15 yearsof age South western of Eastern Anatolia Regionof Turkish children. The stages of dental maturity of themandibular left seven permanent teeth for each subject using the eight radiographic dental maturity stagesdemonstrated by Demirjian s method were evaluated. A pired t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean difference between the chronological and dental ages ranged 0,28 to 1,10 years in boys andfrom 0,18 to 0,68 years in girls. South western of Eastern Anatolia Region of/Turkish children were generallydelayed in dental maturity compared with children in Demirj ian sample. The differences between thechronological and dental ages were statistically significant in 6-6.9, 8-8.9, 9-9.9, 10-10.9, 11-11.9 years in boysand in 8-8.9, 9-9.9,11-11.9 years in girls. Conclusions: Turkish children from the southwest Eastern Anatolia region are significantly more delayed indental maturity compared to Demirjian s French-Canadian sample. The applicability of Demirjian data is notsuitable for Southwestern of Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkish children.