Accuracy of the Chaillet's Method for Assessing the Age in Subadults. A Meta-Analysis

Introduction Assessing the dental development plays a key role in forensic dentistry. Dental age based on stages of teeth mineralization can be assessed by using different methods, and is especially useful in subadults. Chaillet‘s method was developed based on the Demirijan’s method. In this study, we aimed to study the applicability of Chaillet‘s method in subadults. Materials and methods: We performed systematic reviews and meta-analysis of observational studies published in English using the following databases Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase and Scopus, with a timeframe between 2013 and 2019. Results: The difference between chronological age and dental age was calculated separately, for each gender. In girls, the method underestimated the age with an average difference between dental and chronological of 0.83 years (CI= [-1.34; -0.31]), with significant heterogeneity and publication bias. In boys, the method underestimated the age with an average difference between dental and chronological of 0.64 years (CI= [-1.28; 0.01)], with significant heterogeneity and publication bias. Chaillet’s method showed an advanced dental maturity in European boys by 0.35 years [-0.85; 1.55], while it underestimated the age in South Asian boys by -1.03 (CI= [-1.60; -0.46]). For girls this method showed a delayed dental development for both regions, with a rather smaller difference for Europeans of -0.06 years (CI= [0.91; 0,78]) compared to South Asian girls: -1.19 years (CI= [-1.86; -0.51. Conclusion: Dental age estimation provided by the Chaillet’s method showed an age overestimation in both genders, in most studies geographic groups.