Accuracy of the Demirjian's method for assessing the age in children, from 1973 to 2020. A meta-analysis

Hostiuc, Sorin; Edison, Sharon-Ema; Diaconescu, Ioana; Negoi, Ionuț; Isailă, Oana-Maria

doi:10.1016/j.legalmed.2021.101901

Cited by 15 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Additional studies with a larger study population extending the sample to the whole of Italy should be conducted to minimize the differences that may exist between different geographic areas within the same country. However, the geographical/ethnic differences seem to be small, making the method useful irrespective of the ethnic profile of the subjects [ 42 ]. Nonetheless, it is important to remember that age estimation concerns biology and variation is to be expected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the 18-Year Threshold with Third Molars Radiographs in the Southern Italy Population: Accuracy and Reproducibility of Demirjian Method

Caggiano

Scelza

Amato

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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The estimation of the age of the majority of living subjects is widely required nowadays due to the presence of unidentifiable individuals, without documents and general information, involved in migration or legal procedures. Dental age estimation (DAE) is a valid method for investigating the age of subjects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of the Demirjian method in a limited age group (16–24 years) in differentiating between older and younger than 18 years. From an initial sample of 17594 radiographs, 460 were selected meeting the inclusion criteria. Two dentists provided the age estimate according to the Demirjian method, with a simplified approach based on the development of the third molars. The presence of a developmental stage of H for at least one third molar allowed to establish the major age if the other third molars, inferior or superior, have reached a stage equal or superior to F, with an accuracy of 90.2% and a predictive positive value of 91.6%. Thirty-three patients showed the development of at least one third molar (Stage H) before the age of 18 years while six patients showed the development of all four third molars with root completion (stage H) before the age of 18 years. When all third molars reached stage H an individual was over 18 years old in 97.4% of cases. In presence of one third molar on stage H and a stage equal or superior to F for the other third molars the probability of being of major age was 91.6%.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating the 18-Year Threshold with Third Molars Radiographs in the Southern Italy Population: Accuracy and Reproducibility of Demirjian Method

Caggiano

Scelza

Amato

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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“…Demirjian’s method for dental age (DA) estimation has been the most commonly used method in scientific research, as well as in clinical practice ( 14 ). Hence, a comparison of the chronological age and dental age of all subjects was made with the standard charts of Demirjian.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental and Skeletal Age in Patients with Palatally Displaced Canines

Latić-Hodžić¹,

Stunja²,

Milošević³

et al. 2022

Acta Stomatol Croat

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Objective To determine potential associations between dental and skeletal maturation and palatally displaced canines (PDC) considering gender and chronological age. Material and methods This study included pretreatment panoramic and lateral cephalometric radiographs of 43 subjects with PDCs and 203 randomly selected orthodontic subjects with normally erupted canines. Both groups were non syndromic patients. Chronological age of subjects was rounded and noted in years with decimal points and compared with chronological age according to Demirjian's dental age assessment. Skeletal maturation was determined by cervical vertebrae changes on cephalometric radiographs. Results Female subjects with PDC were more affected by left side canine displacement than males (p=0.027) with five times higher odds ratio (OR = 4.9; 95% CIL=1.2-19.7). A comparison of chronologic and skeletal age indicated that PDC subjects were skeletally younger than unaffected groups with statistically significant differences at the age of 10, 12 and 13. (p=0.05). Conclusion Young subjects with PDCs showed skeletal maturation delay compared to control group, indicating that skeletal maturation assessment could be one of unexplored predicting factors of a PDC, especially at the age between 10 and 13 years in both genders. Subjects with PDC showed intensive growth spurt after the age of 12 years in females, and after the age of 13 in males. Dental maturation delay showed no statistical significance in PDC prediction.

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“…A number of previous reviews have summarized studies investigating the relationship between mandibular third molar formation and age. Most of these did not investigate the Demirjian’s method [ 10 ], did not aim to be a systematic review [ 11 , 12 ], or did not present data assessing the relationship between chronological age and proportion of subjects with a fully matured mandibular third molar [ 9 , 13 – 20 ]. One systematic review was of potential interest, but the risk of bias, as assessed by the ROBIS tool [ 21 ], was high [ 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How old are you? A systematic review investigating the relationship between age and mandibular third molar maturity

et al. 2023

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Introduction and objective Radiographic evaluation of the maturity of mandibular third molars is a common method used for age estimation of adolescents and young adults. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the scientific base for the relationship between a fully matured mandibular third molar based on Demirjian’s method and chronological age, in order to assess whether an individual is above or below the age of 18 years. Methods The literature search was conducted in six databases until February 2022 for studies reporting data evaluating the tooth maturity using Demirjian´s method (specifically stage H) within populations ranging from 8 to 30 years (chronological age). Two reviewers screened the titles and abstracts identified through the search strategy independently. All studies of potential relevance according to the inclusion criteria were obtained in full text, after which they were assessed for inclusion by two independent reviewers. Any disagreement was resolved by a discussion. Two reviewers independently evaluated the risk of bias using the assessment tool QUADAS-2 and extracted the data from the studies with low or moderate risk of bias. Logistic regression was used to estimate the relationship between chronological age and proportion of subjects with a fully matured mandibular third molar (Demirjian´s tooth stage H). Results A total of 15 studies with low or moderate risk of bias were included in the review. The studies were conducted in 13 countries and the chronological age of the investigated participants ranged from 3 to 27 years and the number of participants ranged between 208 and 5,769. Ten of the studies presented the results as mean age per Demirjian´s tooth stage H, but only five studies showed the distribution of developmental stages according to validated age. The proportion of subjects with a mandibular tooth in Demirjian´s tooth stage H at 18 years ranged from 0% to 22% among males and 0 to 16% in females. Since the studies were too heterogenous to perform a meta-analysis or a meaningful narrative review, we decided to refrain from a GRADE assessment. Conclusion The identified literature does not provide scientific evidence for the relationship between Demirjian´s stage H of a mandibular third molar and chronologic age in order to assess if an individual is under or above the age of 18 years.

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Accuracy of the Demirjian's method for assessing the age in children, from 1973 to 2020. A meta-analysis

Cited by 15 publications

References 16 publications

Estimating the 18-Year Threshold with Third Molars Radiographs in the Southern Italy Population: Accuracy and Reproducibility of Demirjian Method

Estimating the 18-Year Threshold with Third Molars Radiographs in the Southern Italy Population: Accuracy and Reproducibility of Demirjian Method

Dental and Skeletal Age in Patients with Palatally Displaced Canines

How old are you? A systematic review investigating the relationship between age and mandibular third molar maturity

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