Estimation of dental age and its comparison with chronological age: accuracy of two radiographic methods

Introduction: Accurate age data are always necessary in medicine and dentistry, and are also important to assess maturity and estimate age in a number of disciplines, such as forensic odontology, paediatric and preventive dentistry, orthodontics, etc. Aim: This investigation determines the accuracy of dental age estimation and its comparison with chronological age by two methods: Demirjian's and Willems'. Materials and methods: Tooth development was assessed in seven left mandibular teeth from 215 orthopantomograms (OPGs) belonging to healthy children aged 6-15 years selected by convenience sampling, from patients of the Sudha Rustagi College of Dental Sciences & Research, Faridabad, and were staged according to Demirjian's and Willems' scales. The statistical analysis was performed using the unpaired 't'-test and the correlation was analysed using Karl Pearson's correlation coefficients test. Results: Overall, Willems' method was found to be more accurate with a mean age overestimation of 0.36 years (SD = 0.38) in boys and 0.24 years (SD = 0.36) in girls, and Demirjian's method produced a mean overestimation of 0.66 years (SD = 0.41) in boys and 0.56 years (SD = 0.43) in girls, respectively. Also, correlation between the two methods revealed a high coefficient value, 0.9947 for boys and 0.9944 for girls (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Despite the favourable result of Willems' method in comparison with Demirjian's method, this study demonstrated a high correlation coefficient between both chronological and obtained dental age, thus confirming their potential applicability in clinical practice and forensic dentistry.