Assessment of Dental Maturity with Three Methods of Dental Age Estimation in the Children of Mosul City
Author(s): Ruba J Mohammad*
Abstract
Background and Aim: Various methods available to estimate the dental maturation. The aim of this study is to evaluate the applicability of three “Demirjian, Häävikko, and Nolla” methods of dental age (DA) estimation in the Mosul population.
Materials and Methods: The samples contain 252 digital dental panoramic radiographs (DPR) for 130 girls and 122 boys with age range 6–15 years old of Mosul city population. Chronological age (CA) of each child was obtained by subtracting the date of birth from the date at which the radiograph was taken. Dental age (DA) was estimated according to the Demirjian, Häävikko, and Nolla methods of analysis. Descriptive statistics were calculated for mean and standard deviation. A paired t-test was done to compare means between chronological (CA), and dental age (DA) for different estimation methods and for both genders.
Results: A significant difference was seen in the comparison between the CA and DA by Demirjian and Häävikko methods in girls and in boys (p<0.05). There is no significant underestimation of the DA in girls and boys (p = 0.117, 0.396) when it is estimated with Nolla`s method.
Conclusion: The present study concluded that the Demirjian’s method and Häävikko`s method are not suitable for DA estimation in Mosul city children aged 6-15 years old. Whereas no significant underestimation of DA with Nolla`s method makes it a more accurate and precise method than the others.