Accuracy of clinical methods of age estimation based on permanent teeth present as erupted: A study on the coastal population of India

Introduction: The role of age estimation in paediatric dentistry has been well documented with an onus being placed for the development of methods independent of radiographic analysis. The study was done to evaluate the accuracy of previously established clinical methods of age estimation in Indian children and to derive new methods for use in an Indian subpopulation. Materials and methods: Foti's clinical method of age estimation based on the eruption status of permanent teeth was tested for accuracy in a sample comprising 1000 children within the age group of 6-14 years encompassing five different southern states of India. A comparative evaluation of Foti's methods and new regressive models developed for an Indian subpopulation was conducted in a sample size comprising 100 children reporting to the department of pedodontics, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangalore. Results: Statistical analysis revealed greater correlation between chronological and estimated dental age using the newer formulae as compared to the original formulae. Conclusion: Hence it is derived that the new population specific methods can help ascertain an individual's age with relative accuracy, even in the absence of radiographs, and hence can be of considerable importance in a rural setup. (c) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.