Age assessment based on dental calcification in individuals with Down syndrome.
Standard dental age charts work for kids with Down syndrome, so use them with confidence.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at dental X-rays from the kids. Half had Down syndrome, half did not. They used the same tooth chart dentists use every day.
Each child was matched by age and sex. One reader scored every film without knowing who had Down syndrome.
What they found
Kids with Down syndrome lost teeth and grew adult teeth on the same schedule as other kids. The calendar age and the dental age matched in both groups.
Standard dental charts worked just as well for Down syndrome as for typical kids.
How this fits with other research
Olsson et al. (2001) showed speech errors in Down syndrome look different from other disorders. That study reminds us to test the right thing: speech for talking, teeth for age.
LeBlanc et al. (2003) found fathers of Down syndrome kids feel less stress. Less stress can mean more regular dental visits, so age data stay easy to collect.
Brugnaro et al. (2025) link higher activity to better movement. Active kids fall more, so dentists still need good age films after bumped teeth.
Why it matters
You can trust the same dental age tables you already know. No extra norms are needed for kids with Down syndrome. When a tooth is knocked out, grab the standard chart and read it straight. This saves time, money, and worry for families.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
It is important to estimate both chronological age (CA) and maturational age of an individual, in order to perform orthopedic treatment or surgery, and in cases of lost documentation. Use of dental age (DA) for these purposes has been widely studied; however, the literature is scarce with regard to individuals with Down syndrome (DS), a prevalent condition worldwide. In this study the chronology of dental maturation was evaluated by analyzing the DA of individuals with DS based on the Chronological Mineralization Table proposed by Nolla (1960). Thus, second molars were evaluated in 57 panoramic radiographs of male and female individuals with DS, between 5 and 16 years-old. These data were compared with a control group of 191 nonsyndromic individuals of the same age group. Correlation between CA and DA was ascertained using Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), and the difference between these variables was measured using Student's t-test for paired samples and the method proposed by Bland and Altman. The difference between DA and CA was compared between the control and DS groups using Student's t-test for independent samples (α=0.05). DA was slightly lower than the CA; however, this difference was only significant for females. The difference between DA and CA was not significant between individuals with DS and control group (both genders, p=0.945; males, p=0.542; females, p=0.381). We concluded that dental maturation in individuals with DS occurs similarly to that of nonsyndromic individuals.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.09.005