Dental Age Estimation in Children Using Orthopantomograms

Razvojne faze zubi koriste se za određivanje zrelosti i procjenu dobi u brojnim disciplinama; poput dječje i preventivne stomatologije, ortodoncije, forenzične stomatologije, i dr. Cilj: Točnost različitih metoda nije dosad sistematično proučena u hrvatskoj populaciji pa je cilj ovog istraživanja bio odrediti točnost dvije metode; prema Demirjian-u i Haavikko. Materijal i metode: Razvojne faze zuba promatrale su se na ortopantomogramima (OPG) zdrave djece, pacijenata Stomatološkog fakulteta, Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Uzorak se sastojao od 324 ortopantomograma djece u dobi od 6-16 godina (149 dječaka i 175 djevojčica). Na OPG-ovima je promatrano sedam mandibularnih zuba i određen im je stadij po skalama zrelosti zuba prema Demirjian-u i Haavikko. U obradi podataka primijenjena je deskriptivna statistika, korelacijska analiza (Spearmanov test korelacije rangova) te testovi (Lilliefors test za testiranje normalnosti distribucije, t-test za testiranje značajnosti Spearmanovog koeficijenta korelacije rangova te Mann-Whitneyev test za testiranje razlika između dječaka i djevojčica). Rezultati: Dentalna dob i srednja vrijednost (±S.D. u godinama) između dentalne i realne dobi izračunata je za obje metode. Rezultati su pokazali da Demirjian-ova metoda precjenjuje dob dok Haavikko podcjenjuje dob. Svi podaci bili su obrađeni korelacijskom i regresijskom analizom koja je pokazala da su obje aplicirane metode pokazale signifikantnu korelaciju s realnom dobi (Demirjian-ova metoda imala je koeficijent korelacije 0.93, a metoda po Haavikko 0.89, p< 0.05). Zaključak: Ovo istraživanje na populaciji hrvatske djece pokazalo je visoki koeficijent korelacije za obje metode i ukazalo na njihovu mogućnost primjene u kliničkoj, znanstvenoj i forenzičnoj primjeni.Developing teeth are used to assess maturity and estimate age in a number of disciplines, such as pediatric and preventive dentistry, orthodontics, forensic odontology, etc. Aim: The accuracy of different methods has not been systematically investigated within the Croatian population, so the aim of this investigation was to determine the accuracy of two methods; Demirjian’s and Haavikko’s. Material and Methods: Tooth formation was assessed from orthopantomograms (OPGs) belonging to healthy children, patients of the School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb. The sample consisted of 324 children (149 boys, 175 girls, ages 6–16 years). The OPGs were examined and seven mandibular teeth were staged according to Demirjian’s dental maturity scale and according to Haavikko. Descriptive statistics were used together with relation analysis (Spearman correlation) and tests (Lilliefors test for normality of distribution, t-test for significance of Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient, and Mann-Whitney test for testing the differences between boys and girls). Results: Dental age and the difference between dental and actual chronological age was calculated for both methods. Results showed that Demirjian’s method overestimated the age while Haavikko’s method underestimated the age. All data was subjected to both correlation and regression analysis, which showed that both applied methods gave results with significant correlation to the actual age (Demirjian’s method yielded a 0.93 coefficient of correlation, Haavikko’s method yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.89, p