The Cayor Atlas: a black Senegalese dental atlas for permanent tooth formation

Many aspects of tooth development have been documented, particularly in Caucasian populations. However, dental development has not been extensively studied in West Africa.

The present study was designed to provide information on the sequences of tooth calcification in West African black Senegalese children and to compare the results with those of other populations, notably the London Atlas.

A total of 556 orthopantomograms (OPGs) from 289 males and 266 females with a mean age of 11.34 ± 3.84 years were analyzed. Demirjian A-H staging was applied to record the stages of tooth development. Tables of tooth development stages for each tooth were generated separately for age cohorts and by sex. The most common stage of tooth formation (modal) was the characteristic age stage of development. Differences between boys and girls and between maxillary and mandibular teeth were also analyzed using chi-squares. Accuracy was assessed by comparing the age estimated by the Dental Development Atlas for this population (Cayor Atlas) and the London Atlas tooth with chronological age using the Bland-Altman test.

There was no significant difference in tooth development between girls and boys, p > 0.05. Maxillary teeth had similar dental development to mandibular teeth, p > 0.05. The Pearson correlation test showed a strong correlation between chronological age and the age estimated by the Cayor atlas, p < 0.001. The Bland-Altman test also showed greater accuracy than the London Atlas.

These results show dental calcification sequences different from those of the London Atlas Tooth and the Witts Atlas (Atlas of Black South African Subjects).