Background: Dental age assessment is very useful in the pediatric dentist’s and orthodontist’s everyday practice. The eventual lack of correlation between dental age, skeletal maturation and chronological age can influence treatment procedures regarding mostly their application time. The aim of our study was to investigate the relationship between dental age based on the calcification stages of the first lower premolar (PM1i) and skeletal maturity stages using cervical vertebrae (C2, C3, C4) among Romanian individuals and to determine the clinical value of the first premolar as a growth evaluation index.
Material and methods: In a sample of 30 patients (13 males, 17 females) ranging in age from 9 to 15 years (mean age 11.2 years) we examined the orthopantomography radiographs (OPT) and lateral cephalometric radiographs of each case.
Results: The biological development of girls is about 1.5 years more advanced than in boys. When the Demirjian Index was at stage F, then CVS was at stage 3.4, which means that in developmental stage “F” (according to Demirjian index) premolars are indicators of the optimal time for orthodontic treatment. We found a significant correlation (R = 0.871, p <0.001) between CVM and Demirjian’s index.
Conclusions: The correlation shown in this study will allow clinicians to use mandibular first premolar as an adjunctive tool to assess adolescent growth spurt, combined with the evaluation of the cervical vertebrae. The results also show the usefulness of the assessment of the development of dental status as a simple diagnostic test to determine the biological age of the population.