Dental and skeletal maturity- a biological indicator of chronologic age.
BACKGROUND
Precise evaluation of the developmental stage of a child is not only an integral part of both diagnosis and treatment of paediatric patients; it is also essential in Forensic Medicine and Dentistry. Physiologic age can be estimated by somatic, sexual, skeletal and dental maturity.


OBJECTIVE
Investigate the relationship between the dental age (DA) and skeletal age (SA) of children and comparing it with the chronological age (CA).


METHODS
The dental age estimation methods of Schour and Massler (S&M), and Demirjian and Goldstien (D&G) and skeletal assessment methods of Greulich and Pyle (G&P), and Tanner et al., (TW2) were used to analyze the orthopantomograms and hand-wrist radiographs respectively of 150 healthy subjects within the age range of 5-15 y and compared with the Chronological Age.


METHODS
Data collected was statistically analysed using the SPSS version 15.0 STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Software. For all tests p-value of <0.05 were considered statistically significance.


RESULTS
Dental age estimation techniques were found comparable and equally reliable as the skeletal age estimation methods. Strong correlations between dental and skeletal maturation were demonstrated.
Post Graduate Student, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences , Lucknow, India .
Vivek
V
Rai
Reader, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences , Lucknow, India .
Sonali
S
Saha
Reader, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences , Lucknow, India .
Gunjan
G
Yadav
Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences , Lucknow, India .
Abhay Mani
AM
Tripathi
Senior Lecturer, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Sardar Patel Post Graduate Institute of Dental and Medical Sciences , Lucknow, India .
Kavita
K
Grover
Bone age; Chronological age; Dental age