Unveiling dental age patterns in a Chinese population: A study in Surabaya using the Demirjian method

Tooth development can serve as a means to estimate an individual's chronological age, which is crucial in dental treatment planning and understanding individual growth patterns. Demirjian et al. devised a technique to assess dental maturity in Caucasians by evaluating crown and root formation stages on dental radiographs. This study aims to evaluate the suitability of Demirjian's method for age assessment among Chinese children (aged 9-15 years). The present study involved 30 panoramic radiographs of outpatients (15 males and 15 females, aged 9-15 years) at the Dental Hospital Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya. The information, including the sex and chronological age of each subject, was recorded, and the dental age was estimated using the Demirjian method. Statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23.0. The results indicated that male subjects exhibited a slight overestimation of dental age by 0.34 years, whereas female subjects showed a slight underestimation of 0.51 years, with no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). In conclusion, this study suggests that the Demirjian method effectively estimates the dental age of Chinese children in Surabaya. Further research with larger sample sizes and diverse populations is recommended to enhance the method's validity.