Abstract:
To study the chronological age of third-molar mineralisation of Turkish children from the southwest
Eastern Anatolia region, the Demirjian staging method was used to determine the stage of the
mineralisation of four third molars (18, 28, 38 and 48) and to compare third-molar development by sex
and age with the results of previous studies. The study comprised 832 Turkish children from the
southwest Eastern Anatolia region aged 6–16 years based on radiological evidence from digital
orthopantomograms. The mean age of the 832 patients was 11.03 1.98 years, with 424 males (mean age,
10.97 1.97) and 408 females (mean age, 11.09 2.00). The orthopantomograms were scored by two
observers. The Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-rank test used to assess intra- and inter-observer assessment
revealed strong agreement between both observers’ measurements. Statistical analysis of the association
between sex and age was performed with the Mann–Whitney U-test and the Wilcoxon test. Regression
analysis was performed to obtain regression formulae for calculating the dental and the chronological age.
The statistical analysis showed a strong correlation between age and third-molar development in males
(R2 = 0.61) and females (R2 = 0.63). New equations (age = 7.49 + 0.69, development stage (DS) 38 + 0.70,
DS18) were derived for estimation of the chronological age. The results showed that there was no significant
difference in mineralisation between 18 and 28 and 38 and 48 in males or females. For both sexes, the dental
age was lower than the chronological age. Males reached the developmental stages earlier than females. In
the whole population, the boys’ and the girls’ dental ages were 0.84 years and 0.16 years earlier, respectively,
than their chronological ages. The use of third-molar teeth as a developmental marker is suitable, particularly
when comparing the obtained standard deviation with other skeletal-age calculation techniques.
