AGE ESTIMATION FROM TEETH AMONG BENGHAZI CHILDREN US-ING DEMIRJIAN’S METHOD

Abstract

Aims: This study is aimed to evaluate the accuracy of Demirjian’s method in Benghazi chil-dren estimating the chronological age of male and female children between 6 and 16 years of age from panoramic radiographs and to establish a new dental age (DA) curve if the Demirjian’s method was not found to be accurate. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study consisted of 250 panoram-ic radiographs of 127 boys and 123 girls between the ages of 6–16 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 examiner. Statistical analyses using the t-test and Pearson correlation were performed. Results: There was no significant difference in both boys and girls in all the age groups be-tween their chronological age and dental age except for age group 6, 7, 15. Even though there was a slight overestimation in boys in some age groups and slight underestimation in girls in some groups, Moreover, correlation analyses for each age group showed a signifi-cant 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. Conclusions: Benghazi boys and girls living in the east region of Libya exhibited similar pattern of dental development when compared to the Demirjian ‘s method. Hence, the Demi-rjian’s method could be used as reference in children from the eastern region of Libya.