[Relationship between chronological, dental and skeletal ages among 7 to 13 year old children]

ABSTRACT

Efforts to find correlation between ossification events in the hand and wrist, developmental conditions of the teeth, and chronological age can lead to assessment of developmental status of an individual as a simple and useful method. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronological, dental and skeletal ages among 7 to 13 year old children referring to Orthodontic Department, Shiraz Dental School. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 40 female and 22 male subjects. Sixty two panoramic and hand wrist radiographs were obtained. Dental ages were assessed according to Demirjian based on the lower left canines, first and second premolars and second and third molars. Greulich and Pyle standard atlas was used to determine the skeletal age. The results were analyzed using Pearson coefficient correlation. A statistically significant relationship [p<0.01] was found between dental and chronological ages. The relation between dental and skeletal ages was significant too [p<0.05]. At the same skeletal maturity stage, dental maturation patterns of the male subjects were ahead and the G stage of the canine for both sexes [60%] coincided with the MP3cap stage. It is suggested that tooth calcification stages in panoramic radiographs might be a valuable indicator to assign timing of growth spurt