Estimation of dental age by Nolla’s method using orthopantomographs among rural free residential school children

Introduction: Teeth and dental restorations are resistant to destruction by fire and the elements are therefore useful in identification. This permits accurate identification of a missing child or remains. The Rural Residential free school at Suttur houses a large number of inmates and hence dental records are kept for their identification. Objective: Estimation of Age of children. Methods: Orthopantomographs were used to study for estimation of age of children, using a Nolla’s method of dental age estimation. Results: In this study Nolla’s method underestimated the chronological age of the individuals and underestimation of age increased as the chronological age of the individuals increased. Conclusion: Studies involving larger sample size and population specific data needs to be developed