Changes in age estimations standards secondary to full fixed edgewise orthodontic treatment

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this cohort study was to evaluate if the side effects of orthodontic treatment have any significant impact when the Kvaal et al., method is used for dental age estimation. The objective of this study was to observe the potential effects of orthodontic treatment on the accuracy of the age estimation, as performed using the Kvaal et al. Standards when it was applied on individuals before and after orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods: Following the methodological approach of Kvaal et al., odontometric measurements were acquired, and the data were statistically analyzed to develop age estimation regression models. The total number of radiographs analyzed was 182 (644%, n = 58) female and 36% (n= 33) male. The ages ranged from 12 to 50 years for females (mean age 22 years) and 12-52 years for males (mean age 22 years) before starting the treatment. The average length of the treatment was 2.2 years for both females and males. Results: It was observed that the standard error of estimate for the regression models did not change dramatically for the pre- and post-treatment data. Conclusions: It is recommended that similar analyses be performed for other methods of dental age estimation, for example, methods based on cone-beam computer tomography or microfocus computer tomography. These novel approaches, though more accurate, are also potentially more sensitive to dental changes caused by orthodontic treatment.