Pediatric Dentistry · patient case question
A 5-year-old already has erupted permanent mandibular incisors. Which statement about the chronological age is correct?
Patient case: Evidence, vital signs and dental age
Scenario: Three items in research methods, medicine and growth.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. The chronological age is behind the dental age
- A. Correct. Permanent mandibular incisors normally erupt around 6-7 years. Eruption at 5 means development has run ahead of the calendar, so dental age exceeds chronological age — the child's chronological age lags behind.
- B. Eruption timing is one of the standard methods of estimating dental age, alongside calcification staging, which is actually the more reliable of the two.
- C. This reverses the relationship. If the calendar were ahead of development, the teeth would be late, not early.
- D. They do not match here; that is the whole point of the item.
Note: ⚑ Read this stem carefully — the wording asks about the chronological age relative to the dental age, which inverts the intuitive answer. Several group members reported keying it the other way.
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