Dental age estimates may vary in accuracy across childhood syndromes
This brief uses only the review's abstract: the Demirjian method underestimated age in specific conditions, while evidence for alternatives was sparse.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
The review suggests that dental age estimates can behave differently across syndromes. The Demirjian method underestimated age in children with amelogenesis imperfecta or osteogenesis imperfecta, while evidence for other methods was too sparse for reliable conclusions. The abstract does not identify a method that performs consistently well across all the included conditions.
The abstract gives no pooled error estimates, confidence intervals or condition-specific sample sizes. Sparse primary evidence for alternative methods prevents a reliable comparison of accuracy across syndromes.
What researchers found
Demirjian dental age estimate
Compared with chronological age in children with amelogenesis imperfecta or osteogenesis imperfecta; assessment timing unreported. The abstract supplies no numerical error estimate.
What accuracy meant
The outcome was the gap between estimated dental age and a child's chronological age. This tests the accuracy of an age-estimation method; it does not establish a treatment need or predict future dental health.
Uneven coverage across syndromes
Much of the literature concerned Down's syndrome, yet the reported underestimations involved other named conditions. That uneven evidence base matters when interpreting broad claims about how well any method works across syndromes.
The original publication
Accuracy of dental age estimation methods in children with chromosomal syndromes: A systematic review and network meta-analysis.
Mokhtar IW, Ismail N, Yusof MYPM
Arch Oral Biol · 2026
- PubMed ID
- 41240634
- Record checked
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