Central Dental Clinic (OCEx), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Division of Oral Radiology, Faculdade Sao Leopoldo Mandic, Campinas, Brazil.
Clin Oral Investig. 2022 Aug;26(8):5439-5447. doi: 10.1007/s00784-022-04511-z. Epub 2022 Apr 29.
To test and compare the performance of two radiographic methods for dental age estimation on a large sample of Brazilian boys and girls.
The sample consisted of 1.990 panoramic radiographs of Brazilian children (age: 3-15.9 years) equally balanced based on sex. The sample was distributed into ten age categories, each with up to 200 children. Age estimation was performed with Willems' (2001) and Demirjian's (1973) methods. Estimated (EA) and chronological (CA) ages were compared. The performances of the methods were quantified based on sex and age category.
The overall differences between CA and EA for Willems' method in boys and girls were 0.06 and - 0.02, respectively. For Demirjian's method, the differences were 0.60 and 0.74, respectively. The overestimations of Demirjian's method were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Willems' method reached the best outcomes among children between 3 and 12 years, while Demirjian's best performances were between the ages of 7 and 10 years.
Willems' method led to differences between CA and AE that were acceptable for clinical and forensic practice.
Age estimation may guide clinical decisions based on treatment timing. Validating international tools is necessary to promote evidence-based practice and country-specific application. This study overcame the limitations of previous research to provide a more realistic perspective of the performance of age estimation methods in Brazilian children. Willems' method had a superior performance compared to Demirjian's method and led to outcomes that were better than most studies with the Brazilian population.
在大量巴西男童和女童的样本中测试和比较两种用于牙齿年龄估计的放射学方法的性能。
该样本由 1990 张巴西儿童的全景 X 光片组成（年龄：3-15.9 岁），根据性别均衡分布。样本分为十个年龄组，每组最多有 200 名儿童。使用 Willems （2001 年）和 Demirjian （1973 年）的方法进行年龄估计。比较估计年龄（EA）和实际年龄（CA）。根据性别和年龄组量化方法的性能。
Willems 方法在男孩和女孩中的 CA 和 EA 之间的总体差异分别为 0.06 和-0.02。对于 Demirjian 方法，差异分别为 0.60 和 0.74。Demirjian 方法的高估具有统计学意义（p<0.001）。Willems 方法在 3 至 12 岁的儿童中取得了最佳结果，而 Demirjian 方法的最佳表现是在 7 至 10 岁之间。
Willems 方法导致 CA 和 AE 之间的差异在临床和法医实践中是可以接受的。
年龄估计可以指导基于治疗时机的临床决策。验证国际工具对于促进循证实践和特定国家的应用是必要的。本研究克服了先前研究的局限性，为巴西儿童的年龄估计方法的性能提供了更现实的视角。与 Demirjian 方法相比，Willems 方法的性能更好，其结果优于大多数巴西人群的研究。
