Development of the Permanent Dentition and Validity of Demirjian and Goldstein Method for Dental Age Estimation in Sample of Saudi Arabian Children (Qassim Region)

Objectives: To determine dental maturity (dental age) in cross-sectional sample of Saudi Arabian children by applying the standards established by Demirjian and Golstein and to examine the applicability of these standards in determination of dental maturity among Saudi Arabian children (Qassim region). Materials Methods: Dental maturity was assessed from panoramic radiographs of 400 Saudi Arabian children, 222 boys, and 198 girls ranging in age from 4 to 14 years by using these standards. The difference between the dental and chronological age in different age groups in both sexes was statistically compared using ANOVA testat 0.05 level of significance. Results: The Saudi Arabian children were generally somewhat advanced in dental maturity compared with the French Canadian reference sample with an overall mean difference between the dental and chronological age of 0.279 years in boys and 0.385 years in girls. Conclusion: The applied standards appear to be adequate for studying dental age in groups of children among Saudi Arabian population.