Radiographic evaluation of dental age maturity in 3–17-years-old saudi children as an indicator of chronological age

OBJECTIVE This study was aimed to evaluate the dental age in Saudi children from panoramic radiographs using the Demirjian method to estimate their chronological age. MATERIALS AND METHODS This retrospective cross-sectional study consisted of 1902 panoramic radiographs of 955 boys and 947 girls between the ages of 3-17 years. All children were placed in the age group closest to their chronological age. The dental age was scored on all seven left mandibular teeth by calibrated examiners. Bivariate analyses using the t-test and Pearson correlation were performed. RESULTS There was significant difference in both boys and girls in all the age groups between their chronological age and dental age. Even though there was a slight overestimation in boys in some age groups and slight underestimation in girls in some groups, correlation analysis showed that there was a highly significant correlation between the chronological age and dental age for both boys (r2 = 0.96, P < 0.001) and girls (r2 = 0.98, P < 0.001). Moreover, correlation analyses for each age group showed a significant correlation between the chronological age and the dental age, using the Demirjian method, in most age groups (P < 0.01). When comparing the maturation score between boys and girls, the Student's t-test showed that there were no statistical differences between boys and girls in most age groups. CONCLUSION Saudi boys and girls living in the western region of Saudi Arabia exhibited similar pattern of dental development when compared to the Demirjian method. Hence, the Demirjian method could be used as reference in children from the western region of Saudi Arabia.