Objective:

The purpose of the present study was to compare three methods for calculation of dental age (DA) to be used for forensic purposes.

Material and methods:

512 panoramic X-rays of subjects of both genders living in Maracaibo, State of Zulia, Venezuela were selected (272 females, 240 males). Selected subjects were in the 6-18 years chronological age (CA) range. Maturation stages of Nolla, Moorrees et al and Demirjian et al were assigned to seven permanent teeth of the left side, and DA was calculated according to methodology of each author. CA was obtained where different stages of maturation were observed, as well as mean difference between DA and CA as calculated with each method were obtained with a t student test for related samples.

Results:

In general, females reached maturation stages at earlier ages than males. The total sample revealed age over-estimation for the Demirjian method (-0.14 ± 1.45), whereas, a sub-calculation was observed for the Nolla and Moorrees et al method. This under-estimation was greater for the Moorrees at al method (2.63 ± 2.09) when compared to Nolla method (0.42 ± 1.38) and differences between DA and CA were found to be statistically significant.

Conclusion:

In the total studied sample, it was determined that Demirjian et al method was the most accurate.

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