Dental age assessment of 8.5 to 17 Year-old Saudi children using Demirjian's method.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the dental age in Saudi children aged 8.5 to 17 years using the Demirjian method.

Methods And Materials: Four hundred ninety panoramic radiographs of boys and girls were reviewed retrospectively. All children were placed in the age group closest to their chronological age. The dental age was scored on all seven left mandibular teeth by one examiner.

Results: Both boys and girls in age groups nine to 14 years showed advanced dental age compared to their chronological age which was found to be statistically significant except in age groups nine and 13 years. Saudi boys were 0.3 years and Saudi girls 0.4 years ahead, on average, of French-Canadian children as analyzed by the Demirjian method.

Conclusion: The standard values for French-Canadian children provided by Demirjian vary slightly for application to Saudi children. As a result, new graphs and tables were produced to convert these maturity scores, calculated by the Demirjian method, to the dental age for Saudi children.