New systems for dental maturity based on seven and four teeth

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Anthropology
• Forensic Science

Background:

• The Demirjian system (1973) is a widely used method for assessing dental development.
• Previous iterations relied on radiographs of seven teeth.
• A need exists for updated standards reflecting current populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an updated dental maturity estimation system.
• To expand the original Demirjian system with two additional developmental stages.
• To provide updated percentile standards for boys and girls.

Main Methods:

• Utilized radiographs from a large sample of 2407 boys and 2349 girls.
• Incorporated two extra developmental stages into the existing system.
• Developed percentile standards for ages 2-5 to 17-0 years.
• Created scoring systems for two different sets of four teeth.

Main Results:

• Presented updated percentile standards for dental maturity, stratified by sex.
• Offered comparative analyses of the original system, the extended system, and two 4-tooth subsets.
• Demonstrated variations in dental maturity assessment across different tooth selections.

Conclusions:

• The updated system offers improved accuracy for dental age estimation.
• Different tooth combinations may capture distinct facets of dental maturation.
• The findings support the use of updated, sex-specific standards in clinical and forensic contexts.