Resumen

ESPINA DE FEREIRA, Ángela et al. Empleo de la edad dental y la edad osea para el cálculo de la edad cronológica con fines forenses, en niños escolares con valores de talla y peso no acordes con su edad y sexo, en maracaibo, estado zulia. Estudio preliminar.. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2007, vol.45, n.1, pp.14-21. ISSN 0001-6365.

The aim of this paper was to determine if the alterations in values of size and weight affect the estimation of dental and skeletal ages in scholar children in Maracaibo, Zulia State. A clinical, explorative study was carried out, in a sample of 60 children: 1) Experimental group: 15 with anthropometric signs of undernourishment and 15 with anthropometric signs of obesity; y 2) Control group: 30 children with size and weight according to their chronological ages. The Demirjian et al. method was applied in order to determine the dental age and the Greulich-Pyle method to estimate the skeletal age. The total sample exhibited a mean of dental age higher than the chronological and skeletal ages. The mean of the dental age was 1,54 and 0,34 years less in children with low size and weight, by comparing to the control group and the group of children with high size and weight related to their chronological age and sex. The mean of skeletal age in children with low size and weight was 1,72 and 2,05 years less, by comparing to the mean of skeletal age in control children, and children with high size and weight related to their chronological age and sex, respectively. It was observed a possible effect of the nutrition on the dental age. It was confirmed that the skeletal age is affected by the nutritional status. The combination of the variables skeletal age and dental age represents a significant improvement in order to predict the chronological age, regardless of the nutritional status.

Palabras clave : chronological age; dental age; skeletal age; Forensic Dentistry; high size and weight; low size and weight.