TECHNICAL NOTE ODONTOLOGY Antonieta PØrez Flores, 1 D.D.S., M.S.; Mario Aguirre Sanhueza, 2 D.D.S.; Patricio Barboza, 3 D.D.S., M.S.; and Claudia Fierro Monti, 1 D.D.S. Study of Chilean Children’s Dental Maturation* ABSTRACT: In forensic science, determining a person’s chronological age has become a challenge for researchers. Determining age using dental calcification is becoming increasingly important. The objective of this study is to estimate the dental age of the children’s population in Region VIII, Chile. The sample was randomly taken from children under the care of the Faculty of Dentistry at the Universidad de Concepción in Chile. The study encompasses 159 children between 3 and 14 years of age. The dental age was determined following the Demirjian method. The Bland–Altman method was applied to establish the correlation. It was determined that the range between chronological and dental age is similar, and the degree of correlation between both ages is nearly perfect. In conclusion, the degree of correlation between the chronological and dental ages for each gender is also very good although it is slightly higher for females. KEYWORDS: forensic science, forensic odontology, dental age, physiological age, dental maturation, dental mineralization Chronological age is considered an administrative criterion that does not always correspond to each individual’s biological circum- stances (1). Indeed, in forensic science, determining a person’s chronological age has become a challenge for researchers (1–3) since reliable biological indicators and comparison patterns that contemplate geographic, racial, gender, and other variations need to be established. Additionally, although biological age is an indicator that compares an individual’s organs with standard patterns for a determined age, this is also a physiological and developmental con- cept (4–7). Clampton et al. (8) established the concept of physiological age using puberty development markers in children as an indicator of maturity. The use of X-rays in medicine provided researchers with more precise instruments for growth studies in human beings. The method that is presently most used to determine age in pediatrics is the method developed by Greulich and Pyle (9) that utilizes the carpal bones on the left hand. Notwithstanding, studies that deter- mine age using dental calcification are becoming increasingly important. In 1973 Demirjian et al. proposed ‘‘A new system to determine dental age’’ (1) which was improved in 1976 when they determined dental age based on seven or four of the teeth on the lower arch (10). This study signaled a change in the studies on dental age since most of the clinical and forensic science research began to be performed following this methodology (11,12). Almost every study conducted to research different methodolo- gies includes the Demirjian et al. proposal (12,13). Hägg and Mats- son, for instance, in a sample population of Swedish children compared the exactitude and precision of the methods of Liliequist and Lundberg, Gustafson and Koch, and Demirjian et al. and found that the most appropriate method for assessing children’s dental age was the method proposed by Demirjian because, comparatively, it presented the highest exactitude and precision (14). Olze et al. state that when estimating dental age, the dental min- eralization method employed is crucial (15). The work undertaken by the Research Committee of the American Academy of Forensic Odontology (A.B.F.O.), published by Mincer et al. in 1993, evalu- ated the opportunity to use third molar development to estimate the chronological age and noted that the most suitable method is the one developed by Demirjian et al. (16). Many studies that inter-relate variables such as age and sex with dental development (17) or that analyze racial variations have been published since ethnic, racial, and social characteristics modify den- tal mineralization chronology (18–21). The objective of this study is to estimate the dental age of chil- dren between ages 3 and 14 in Region VIII, Chile using the Demirjian method where the degree of correlation between their chronological age and their dental age is analyzed using the intra- class correlation coefficient. Materials and Methodology This is a correlation study. The sample was randomly selected from children under the care of the Pediatric Dental Clinic at the Faculty of Dentistry at the Universidad de Concepción in Chile in 2007. The sample includes 159 children ages 3–14. Parental con- sent was obtained from all the children’s parents before their inclu- sion in the study. The dental age was determined by reviewing a panoramic radiography taken using the standard technique for orto- pantomography in a Soredex model Cranex Tome Ceph unit (Orion Corporation, Helsinki, Finland). The Konica MG SR films were developed in an AGFA Curix 60 automatic developer processor 1 Department of Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of Concepción, Concecpión, Chile. 2 Department of Diagnosis and Oral Pathology, School of Dentistry, University of Concepción, Concepción, Chile. 3 Department of Public Health, School of Dentistry, University of Concep- ción, Concepción, Chile. *This manuscript reports on the study of a preliminary sample of the research project financed by the Dirección de Investigación de la Universi- dad de Concepción, Chile (N/ 207.104.005-1.0). Received 2 Dec. 2008; and in revised form 6 Feb. 2009; accepted 14 Feb. 2009. J Forensic Sci, May 2010, Vol. 55, No. 3 doi: 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2009.01274.x Available online at: interscience.wiley.com Ó 2010 American Academy of Forensic Sciences 735