Estimation of Dental Age by Mandibular Third Molar Through Digital Orthopantomogram Using Modified Demirjian Method In South Indian Population Visiting A Dental College- A Retrospective Study

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of Demirjian’s method for dental age assessment in a group of South Indian population and to develop an age-predictive equation suitable for the studied group.   Subjects and methods: In this retrospective, blind, cross-sectional study, 120 Digital Orthopantomograms were selected from the archived medical files of patients attending Dental College and evaluated to estimate dental age.   Results: Age was over estimated for almost all of the studied subjects with an accuracy range from 0.18 to 1.19 years for males and from 0.08 to 0.87 years for females, with the exception of two age subgroups   Conclusion: Demirjian’s method is very useful and suitable for the South Indian population. The development of a prediction equation and the introduction of adaptable conversion tables to transform the maturity score into a dental age for the South Indian population with population-specific samples may be suitable alternatives.