Dental maturation in British children: are Demirjian's standards applicable?
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to determine if the standards of dental maturation of Demirjian et al. (1973, 1976) are applicable to British children.


METHODS
The design was cross-sectional, retrospective.


METHODS
The sample comprised 521 London children of Bangladeshi and white Caucasian (English, Welsh and Scottish) origin aged between 4 and 9 years. Dental age was assessed by crown and root stages of seven mandibular teeth from rotational pantomographs. Dental age was compared to chronological age using a t-test.


RESULTS
Differences in dental maturation between the two ethnic groups were not significant. British children as a group were dentally advanced compared to the Canadian standards. The mean (+/- standard deviation) advancement in girls was 0.51 +/- 0.79 years and in boys was 0.73 +/- 0.73 years.


CONCLUSIONS
The standards of dental maturation described by Demirjian et al. (1973, 1976) may not be suitable for British children.
Liversidge
H M
HM
Department of Paediatric Dentistry, St Bartholomews and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, UK. h.m.liversidge@mds.qmw.ac.uk
Speechly
T
T
Hector
M P
MP
D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000208:ethnology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008445:Maxillofacial Development; D015588:Observer Variation; D009811:Odontometry / Q000592:standards*; D012015:Reference Standards; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014070:Tooth / Q000254:growth & development*; D044465:White People