Accuracy of the London atlas, Willems, and Nolla methods for dental age estimation: a cross-sectional study on Eastern Turkish children

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to estimate the dental age (DA) using the London Atlas, Willems, and Nolla methods and to compare their accuracies.

Methods: The DA was estimated using the aforementioned methods on panoramic radiograms of a total of 919 Eastern Turkish patients aged 6-14 years, of whom 459 were female and 460 were male. The overestimation and underestimation values were determined in relation to the chronological age (CA) values. The paired t test was used to compare the mean DA and CA values. Multiple regression analysis was used to derive gender-specific formulations for the three methods.

Results: The most accurate method for estimating the DA was the Willems method (mean prediction error 0.80), followed by the London Atlas (mean prediction error 0.83) and Nolla (mean prediction error 0.89) methods. Statistically significant differences were found only between the Willems and Nolla methods.

Conclusion: All three methods can be used for DA estimations of Eastern Turkish children.

Clinical relevance: Willems was the most suitable method for this patient sample. However, the London Atlas method may be preferred due to its practicability and comparable accuracy.

Keywords: Dentistry; Forensic dentistry; Forensic sciences; Legal medicine; Panoramic radiography; Quantitative evaluation.