Dental development in Down syndrome and healthy children: a comparative study using the Demirjian method.

Item does not contain fulltextOBJECTIVE: In children with Down syndrome, the timing of dental eruption is important for orthodontics treatment planning. Aim of this study was to determine whether tooth eruption and development of the dentition in children with Down syndrome are impaired. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Dental development was scored on orthopantomograms (OPTs) of 95 children with Down syndrome. The dental age was determined at the left mandibular side according to the Demirjian method and by converting the assigned scores to the dental maturity score. Dental development scores of control children and DS children were compared with a mixed model linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The model showed statistically significant changes relating to increasing age (P<0.001) and gender (P