Development and evaluation of new clinical methods of age estimation in children based on the eruption status of primary teeth.

Background: Age estimation methods in the permanent dentition are numerous in number and well established and evaluated. However, there exists a dearth of methods available for the estimation of age based on the eruption status of primary teeth, despite various studies displaying greater accuracy using such methods.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to develop the methods of age estimation based on the eruption status of primary teeth and based on previous methods developed for permanent teeth and to assess the accuracy of the methods in a clinical situation.

Materials and Methods: A total of 50 children were randomly selected between the age group of 6 and 38 months for the assessment of primary tooth emergence in the oral cavity. New methods of age estimation (triangles and regression equations) were developed for used in the Indian population.

Results: Data were analyzed using receiver operating characteristics curve and intraclass correlation coefficient. Our results conducted in a validation sample of 30 children suggested high levels of accuracy using the new methods, with greater accuracy displayed using the regressive equation (0.928) as compared to the new triangle of age estimation (0.897).

Conclusion: Such methods of age estimation will be of unparalleled importance in rural setups, which cannot afford the luxury of panoramic radiography.