[Chronological age estimation based on dental panoramic radiography]

Determination of the dental age is a valuable tool in planning of orthodontic treatment and could be used to estimate the chronological age of unidentified human beings. Among the various age estimation methods one of the most accepted one is the Demirjian method, which has already been modified to selected Hungarian population. In this study we have evaluated the association between the dental age determined by panoramic radiography and the chronological age. 199 panoramic radiographs taken from persons between the ages of 2,8 and 20,3 years were selected to the study. The dental ages of persons were estimated either with the Demirjian or the modified Demirjian method adapted to Hungarian population and the results were compared to the chronological ages in selected age groups. Furthermore the angle of the mandible was registered on both sides with an image analysing software. Statistical analysis of data was performed using SPSS software. Our results show that mean values of mandibular angles exhibited a decreasing trend with age. The two age determination methods resulted in different values. Between 3 and 9 years and the age group between 15 and 17,3 years the adapted Hungarian method proved to be more accurate than the Demirjian method. We have established a mathematical function between the two methods. We could conclude that the panoramic radiography based dental age calculation is a reliable method to estimate the chronological age, but the utility of gonial angle has not been proved.