Secular trend in the maturation of permanent teeth in a sample of Turkish children over the past 30 years.

This study was performed to evaluate the influence of secular trends on dental maturation among Turkish children over the past 30 years. Orthopantomograms of 757 (385 boys, 372 girls) Turkish children born in the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s were evaluated. Three groups were formed based on decade with five subgroups by age from 9 to 13 years old for each gender. The number of samples in each age group and gender were matched. The mandibular left seven permanent teeth were evaluated based on formation stage to determine the overall dental maturity score. The groups were compared based on decade and gender. The Bonferroni-corrected Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for statistical evaluation. Among 11-, 12-, and 13-year-olds born in the 2000s, girls exhibited significantly more mature dentition than did boys (p<0.01, p<0.05, and p<0.05, respectively). Twelve-year-old girls born in the 1990s and 2000s exhibited significantly more mature dentition than did girls born in the 1980s (p<0.01). Girls generally exhibited more mature dentition than boys. No significant positive secular trends in dental maturity were observed from the 1980s through the 2000s. Dental maturation among Turkish children was not affected by a secular trend.