Clinical duration of eruption of deciduous teeth in Jordanian children: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to investigate the clinical duration of eruption (CDE) for deciduous teeth in Jordanian children, from the moment of gingival emergence until functional occlusal contact. DesignThis cross-sectional study included 1988 children (885 females, 1103 males) aged 1–45 months examined for deciduous tooth emergence. Through probit regression analysis (SPSS Version 16.0), the median ages of emergence (MAE) and of functional eruption (MAF) were calculated per tooth; time difference between the two events represented CDE in months. Mann Whitney U tests and two-tailed Spearman’s bivariate correlation test were used to investigate sexual dimorphisms in CDE, and find relationships between MAE and CDE, respectively. Significance was set at P ≤ 0.05. ResultsThe average CDE was (4.45 ± 1.96) months; it was less in males (4.33 ± 1.99) than in females (4.57 ± 1.93) with no significant gender differences (P = 0.38). Longest and shortest CDE were for maxillary first molars and mandibular lateral incisors, respectively. None of the teeth showed statistically significant differences in CDEs between genders. In addition, there were insignificant positive moderate correlations between MAE and CDE (r = 0.60, 0.52, P = 0.07, 0.12 for males and females, respectively). ConclusionsThis study has established the first standards for CDE in deciduous teeth for Jordanian children with an average CDE (4.5 ± 2, range 1.6–8 months). Some variations in CDE can be explained by variations in age of emergence however, variations in CDE were not related to gender. The deciduous dentition in Jordanians is in active state of eruption between approximately 8.2–32 months.