Correlation between dental and chronological age in 6-15 years old orthodontic patients in Qazvin

Background: The use of different stages of tooth eruption is preferred to estimate the children chronological age as it is less affected by hormonal changes or nutritional status. The most accurate method developed for determination of dental age is the Demirjian technique as indicated by different studies. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the correlation between dental age and chronological age in 6-15 years old orthodontic patients in Qazvin in 2010. Methods: In this descriptive analytic study, 468 individuals (255 females and 213 males) were selected besed on simple sampling and the dental age for each person was determined by Demirjian technique based on 7 mandibular left teeth. The chronological age was calculated by subtracting the birth date from the panoramic date. The correlation between the dental age and chronological age was assessed by Pearson coefficient and the difference between two genders evaluated. Findings: Significant and direct correlation was found between the chronological age and dental age (r=0.912 for females and r=0.905 for males). With the exception of age12 in males, the dental age of each individual was higher than the chronological age. The highest and the lowest differences between the two dental age and chronological age in each gender was noted in chronological ages of 6 and 14 in males and 6 and 8 in females, respectively. Conclusion: Based on results found in The presents study, it seems that the Demirjian technique to be valid for dental age estimation among Iranian people. However, the development of exclusive tables for Iranian population is necessary due to the overestimation of the individual’s dental age compared to the chronological age.