Dental Maturation in Children and Adolescents with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

Dental maturity has been reported to be advanced in patients suffering from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), which has been attributed to both inflammation as well as medication, especially the use Of glucocorticoids. In recent years treatment regimens have changed with a higher percentage of patients being treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs such as methotrexate and biological agents such as TNF-antagonists. We therefore examined a group Of 64 JIA patients to determine whether dental maturation is altered. The panoramic radiographs of these JIA patients, who were between 7.8 and 17.6 years of age were analysed. Compared to normative values obtained on healthy Canadian, German and Dutch children, our patients did not show any alteration of dental maturation. The mean values of each age group are located in between the maturation curves of the above-mentioned Studies. We conclude that JIA does not lead to an advanced dental maturity.