Timing and sequence of emergence of deciduous teeth in Jordanian children.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to provide the timing and sequence of deciduous tooth emergence in a sample of Jordanian children.

DESIGN

A total of 1988 (885 female and 1103 male) children aged from 1 to 45 months recruited from nursery schools and child and maternity health centres in the northern, middle and southern regions of Jordan underwent a dental examination for the detection of deciduous tooth emergence. Children were categorized into 15 3-month-apart age groups. Using Probit regression (SPSS version 16), the median age of emergence per tooth was calculated for the total sample and for both genders.

RESULTS

The period for acquiring deciduous dentition in the total sample ranged from 8.2 to 27.5 months. In either of the maxillary and mandibular arches, deciduous dentition emerged in the following order: central incisor, lateral incisor, first molar, canine and second molar. In addition, there were insignificant differences across side and there was a significant mandibular precedence of the central incisor although the maxillary precedence in the rest of the teeth was insignificant. Moreover, teeth emerged earlier in females although none of the inter-gender differences were significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The first standards of the timing and sequence of deciduous tooth emergence specific to the Jordanian population were provided. These standards will be used along with the previously published standards of permanent tooth emergence to aid managing patients in paediatric dentistry and orthodontics and will find applications in forensic and police sciences and in anthropological research.