Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Dept. of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Dental School, Khorasgan Azad University, Esfahan, Iran
2 Dept. of Orthodontics, Dental School, Khorasgan Azad University, Esfahan, Iran
3 Dentist
Abstract
Statement of Problem: Dental age is used for dental maturation description. Knowledge about dental maturation is useful for determination of the plan, time and retention period of orthodontic treatments.Purpose: The purpose of this research was to compare the dental age in subjects with vertical and horizontal growth patterns.Materials and Method: This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on the panoramic and lateral cephalometric radiographs of 53 patients referred for orthodontic treatment including 26 boys and 27 girls, aged 8–12 years, with a mean chronological age of 9.5 years. The patients were selected according to their lower anterior facial height as a percentage of the total facial height on the cephalometric radiographs. Then the two groups, one with long and the other with short anterior facial height, were compared based on their dental ages. Dental age was determined for each subject on the panoramic view by two observers, using Demirjian's dental maturity score. The data were analyzed by independent and paired T-test, using SPSS.Results: The mean dental age and the mean chronological age in the subjects with long anterior facial height were 9.08±1.8 and 8.6±0.87 years, respectively ( p = 0.06). The patients with short anterior facial height demonstrated the mean dental age of 10.54±1.31 years and the mean chronological age of 10.25±1.09 years ( p = 0.32). There was no statistically significant difference in the dental age score between the two extreme groups. Also, there was no statistically significant difference in the dental and chronological age between girls and boys in patients with long and short faces ( p = 0.71, p =0.73).Conclusion: The difference in the dental age between long and short facial types in subjects aged 8-12 years is not clinically relevant. Boys with short anterior facial height demonstrated a tendency toward more advanced dental age (8 months), revealing no significant different; however, it should be considered important in the clinical study.Key words: Dental, Maturation, Facial taype, Chronological age
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