Earlier dental maturation: fact or fiction?

The objective of this investigation was to determine if there is a difference in dental age of maturation between adolescents treated in the 1970s and those treated in the 1990s. Records of 150 Caucasian patients, 8.5 to 14.5 years old and treated in a private orthodontic office between 1972 and 1974, were randomly selected; records of another 150 patients of the same race and age range but treated between 1992 and 1994 were also collected. The percentage of calcification of the mandibular canines was rated according to methods used by Demirjian, who divided tooth development into eight segments, A to H. Using stage G to compare the 1970 and 1990 patient samples, we demonstrated dental age reductions of 1.21 years for males and 1.52 years for females, and a combined reduction of 1.40 years.