ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This case-control study aimed to evaluate dental age estimation in children with hypothyroidism using two different methods in order to contribute to the literature about the most accurate method. DESIGN: In the study, panoramic radiographs of 80 patients with hypothyroidism aged 5-13 years and 80 randomly selected age and sex-matched healthy patients were examined retrospectively. The Cameriere's and the Nolla's methods were used for the dental age estimation. Dental ages and their differences with chronological ages were compared according to group and sex. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference in estimated dental age was found between the hypothyroidism and control groups using both methods (p > 0.05). Among all the males and females included in this study, the dental ages of the females calculated by Nolla's method were significantly lower than those of the males according to the chronological ages (p < 0.05). For females, in both the hypothyroidism (p < 0.001) and control (p = 0.001) groups, the dental age estimated by Cameriere's method was significantly closer to the chronological age compared to Nolla's method, although there was no statistically significant difference for males. CONCLUSION: Although the dental age of children with hypothyroidism showed similar results to that of healthy children, it is concluded that Cameriere's method led to more accurate results than Nolla's method in females for both healthy patients and patients with hypothyroidism.
