[Study of dental maturity in children aged 3-16 years in Chengdu]

Dental maturity was studied in a group of 903 healthy children (boys: 465, girls: 438) born in Chengudu from 1972 through 1988. Dental maturity was estimated by the method of Demirjian and Goldstein, which is based on the development of seven left mandibular permanent teeth; teeth formation was studied. The standard and curves of dental maturity for Chengdu children (boys and girls) were constructed. At 3-5 years old, boys had their dental maturity slightly earlier than girls; there was no significant difference between boys and girls (P greater than 0.05). At the age of 7-14, girls were more advanced than boys (P less than 0.05). Developmental curves of seven left mandibular permanent teeth were plotted. The sexual difference was smaller at the crown developmental stage, and it increased during the root development. In all, girls were more advanced by 0.45 year than boys. The maximum average difference was 0.85 year for the canine. The time that each developmental stage has taken was shorter in 50% of girls as compared with that in boys, and it was longer in 28% of girls. There was no difference between boys and girls in the remaining 22% of cases.