Testing the accuracy of Foti's dental age estimation methods on a London UK sample

Background and aim: Tooth development and eruption are widely used in assessing dental age estimation, and one of the methods in using tooth development and eruption is Foti's method. However, the population used in the original study was French. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the accuracy of Foti's four dental age estimation regression models against the East London population, mainly of the Bangladeshi and Caucasian ethnicity. These count the number of erupted teeth and tooth germs using a radiograph (Foti 1), absence of a radiograph (Foti 2), maxillary erupted teeth (Foti 3) and mandibular erupted teeth (Foti 4). Methods: The test sample was archived panoramic radiographs of 754 healthy patients aged 6–20 years (380 males and 374 females). The difference between dental and chronological ages was tested using a t-test. The mean absolute difference was also calculated for all models. The most accurate method was defined as the smallest mean difference, smallest standard deviation (SD) and mean absolute difference between dental and chronological ages. Results: Foti model 2 was most accurate with a mean difference of 0.11 years (SD 1.70 years) and a mean absolute difference of 1.33 years. Models 3 (maxillary erupted teeth) and 4 (mandibular erupted teeth) were marginally less accurate, whilst model 1 (radiograph) overestimated age on average by more than 5 years. Conclusion: Our findings show that estimating age using erupting teeth was most accurate using Foti model 2 (least bias)

Bone-specific median age of hand-wrist maturation from Sudan

Background Maturation of bones in the hand–wrist region varies among individuals of the same age and among world groups. Although some studies from Africa report differences to other ethnic groups, the lack of detailed bone-specific maturity data prevents meaningful comparisons. Aim The aim of this study was to describe bone-specific maturity for developing hand–wrist bones in individuals in Khartoum, Sudan. Subjects and methods The sample was selected from healthy patients attending a dental hospital in Khartoum with known age and ancestry (males = 280, females = 330; aged between 3 and 25 years). Bones were assessed from radiographs of the left hand and wrist after the Greulich and Pyle Atlas (1959). Median ages of attainment for bone stages were calculated using probit analysis for each stage in males and females separately. Results Maturity data for stages of the phalanges, metacarpals, carpals and radius and ulna in males and females are presented. Median ages in females were earlier compared to males for all stages. These results are largely earlier than previously published findings or where these could be calculated. Conclusion These results of individual maturity stages of phalanges, metacarpals, carpals and the distal epiphyses of the radius and ulna are useful to assess maturity in growing individuals from Sudan

A radiographic study of pulp crown dimensions of the mandibular deciduous second molar

Aim The aim of this study was to assess the difference in crown and pulp area and dimensions of the mandibular deciduous second molar in males and female children using digitized images of bitewing radiographs and image J®. Materials and Methods Bitewing radiographs of 48 children (24 males and 24 females) aged 3.69 to 9.46 years were assessed in a retrospective cross sectional study. Bitewings were photographed and Image J® was used to measure crown and pulp area and some linear measurements. A t-test was used to compare the difference between mean dimensions in males and females. Results There were no statistically significant(p < 0.5) differences in the area (hard tissue with pulp and without pulp area) or in the horizontal (mesial distal crown width, pulp and crown width at cervix) or vertical (mesial and distal pulp horn height to occlusal surface) dimensions of this tooth between boys and girls. Conclusions There were no difference found in the area and linear measurements of the lower second molar between boys and girls

The timing of mandibular tooth formation in two African groups

Background: Ethnic differences in the timing of human tooth development are unclear. Aim: To describe similarities and differences in the timing of tooth formation in two groups of Sudanese children and young adults. Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of healthy individuals from Khartoum, Sudan, aged 2–23 years. The Northern group was of Arab origin (848 males, 802 females) and the Western group was of African origin (846 males, 402 females). Each mandibular left permanent tooth from first incisor to third molar was assessed from dental radiographs into one of 15 development stages. Mean ages at entry for 306 tooth stages were calculated using probit regression in males/females in each group and compared using a t-test. Results: Mean ages were not significantly different in most tooth stage comparisons between ethnic groups for both males (61/75) and females (56/76), despite a tendency of earlier mean ages in the Western group. Mean ages for most tooth stage comparisons between males and females (137/155) were not significantly different within ethnic groups suggesting low sexual dimorphism. Conclusion: The mean ages of most mandibular tooth formation stages were generally not significantly different between ethnic groups or between males and females in this study