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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Systematic Assessment of Mammalian Skull Specimens for Dental and Temporomandibular Joint Pathology
Published on: August 22, 2022
Third-molar development in relation to chronologic age in Turkish children and young adults
Yildiray Sisman1, Tancan Uysal, Fatih Yagmur
1Department of Oral Diagnosis and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
Objective:
To assess estimation of chronologic age based on the stages of third-molar development following the eight stages (A-H) method of Demirjian et al and to compare third-molar development by sex and age with results of previous studies.
Materials And Methods:
The final sample consisted of 900 orthopantomograms from young Turkish subjects of known chronologic age (range, 8-25 years; mean age, 15.18 +/- 4.81 years) and sex (380 males with a mean age of 14.51 +/- 4.55; 520 females with a mean age of 15.67 +/- 4.94). Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U-test and the Wilcoxon test between sex and age. Regression analysis was performed to obtain regression formulas for dental age calculation with the chronologic age
Results:
Statistically significant differences (P < .05) in third-molar development between males and females were revealed regarding the calcification stages D and G. Third-molar genesis was attained earlier in males than in females. Statistical analysis showed a strong correlation between age and third-molar development for males (r(2) = .65) and for females (r(2) = .61). New equations (Age = 8.92 + 1.50 Development stage) were derived for estimating chronologic age.
Conclusion:
The use of third molars as a developmental marker is appropriate, especially when comparing the obtained standard deviation with other skeletal age calculation techniques.
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