Validity of demirjian and nolla methods for dental age estimation for Northeastern Turkish children aged 5-16 years old

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the applicability of Demirjian and Nolla methods for northeastern Turkish population. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A retrospective study was performed on panoramic radiographs of 673 subjects aged 5-15.9 years. The mean dental age (DA) according to the Demirjian and Nolla methods were compared to the mean chronological age (CA). RESULTS: The mean CA of the study sample was 10.37±2.90 and 10.03±2.81 years for females and males, respectively. Using the Demirjian method, the mean estimated DA was 11.26±3.02 years for females and 10.87±2.96 years for males. For Nolla method, the mean estimated DA was 9.80±3.41 and 9.53±3.14 years for females and males, respectively. The mean differences between the CA and DA according to the Demirjian and Nolla methods were 0.86 and -0.54 years for total study sample. CONCLUSION: Nolla method was found to be a more accurate method for estimating DA in northeastern Turkish population.