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Correlation among chronologic age, skeletal maturity, and dental age
Rashna H Sukhia1, Mubassar Fida
1Section of Dentistry, Department of Surgery, The Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.
Aim:
To determine the correlation among chronologic age, skeletal maturity, and dental age in reference to both sexes.
Methods:
In 380 subjects (147 males and 233 females) between 7 and 17 years of age, skeletal maturity was assessed using the cervical vertebral maturation stages described by Baccetti et al. Dental age was determined using the Demirjian method. The correlation between skeletal maturity and chronologic age on one side and between skeletal maturity and dental age on the other was assessed with Spearman rank correlation coefficients. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the correlation between chronologic and dental age.
Results:
For both sexes, significant correlations among chronologic age, skeletal maturity, and dental age were found. The mandibular first premolar had the highest correlation with skeletal maturation in both sexes.
Conclusion:
As skeletal maturity and dental age are significantly correlated, tooth development may be used to assess a patient's skeletal maturity at an early age.
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