Demirjian’s Development Stages on Wisdom Teeth for Estimation of Chronological Age: A Systematic Review [Internet]

Review
Oslo, Norway: Knowledge Centre for the Health Services at The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH); 2017 Mar 15. Report from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health No. 2017-16.

Excerpt

Demirjian’s development stages of teeth are used to estimate the age of children and youth. This systematic review summarizes the scientific documentation about how chronological age is distributed according to Demirjian’s stages from A to H for wisdom teeth.

We found 18 relevant cross-sectional studies, all published after 2005. They were from 13 different countries from all continents except Australia. The studies presented the mean age of participants in each stage.

The majority of these studies were conducted in such a way that we do not have confidence in the results. The number of participants in each age group and the total age range of the study influence the results. If studies do not consider this, a bias called age mimicry occurs.

We considered that only a few studies were performed in such a way that they provide an adequate description of the method’s ability to estimate age.

The studies do not provide sufficient evidence to conclude whether there are differences in the development of wisdom teeth between populations from different regions.

Keywords: Age Determination by Teeth.

Publication types

  • Review