A Comparative Evaluation of Three Different Dental Age Estimation Methods in India: A Test of Ethnic Variability

AIM: The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the applicability of Demirjian, Willems, and Haavikko methods of dental age estimation in southeastern (Dravidian ethnicity) and northwestern regions (Aryan ethnicity) of the Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study includes the orthopantomographs (OPGs) of 303 individuals (173 males and 130 females) of age ranging from 5 to 14 years. The participants in the present research were evaluated under two study groups: group I: participants of the southeastern region and group II: participants of the northwestern region. Dental age was calculated using Demirjian, Willems, and Haavikko methods and compared with the chronologic age of each participant. The accuracy of dental age estimation methods was evaluated by mean absolute error. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student's t tests were used to test the significant difference between the chronologic age and estimated dental ages. RESULTS: The Demirjian method showed overestimation, while Willems and Haavikko methods showed underestimation for boys and girls in both the ethnic groups of Indian population. The Willems method of dental age estimation showed comparatively more accurate and reliable results in both the ethnic groups of the Indian population. CONCLUSION: The dental age estimation by Demirjian, Willems, and Haavikko methods showed no significant variation between the different ethnicities of the Indian population. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The present research will be helpful in pedodontic, orthodontic, and forensic investigations for accurate and reliable dental age estimation in different parts of Indian population. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Chaudhry K, Talwar M, Vanga NRV, et al. A Comparative Evaluation of Three Different Dental Age Estimation Methods in India: A Test of Ethnic Variability. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2020;13(1):16–20.