Sexual dimorphism of primary dentition in Spanish children

Aim: To analyse differences in the eruption of primary teeth between both sexes. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was performed in a sample of 1250 children aged between 3 and 42 months. The clinical emergence of teeth was taken to estimate average ages for primary teeth eruption. The t-test was used to analyse gender and arch differences. Results: Eruption of primary teeth began at the same time in girls as in boys; although the eruptive process was longer in girls. It was observed that almost all deciduous teeth emerged earlier in boys, except for the first molar (upper and lower) and the maxillary central incisors. The differences were statistically significant for almost all the primary teeth except for the central incisors, both upper and lower. Conclusions: By comparing the timing of the eruption of primary teeth in both sexes, it was found that eruption of almost all primary teeth took place earlier in boys than in girls and that the eruption process was shorter for boys than for girls. Most of the deciduous teeth erupted earlier in the right side in both sexes. No differences were found in the sequence of eruption of primary teeth between genders.