Abstract: A cross-sectional investigation about erupting time of every permanent tooth except the third molars was performed among 8148 children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 in Kunming, Yunnan province. The relation of the number of erupted teeth (NET) to age, height, weight and menarche was studied.
Using analysis of correlation, NET correlates strongly with age (r= 0.9951 for boys and r=0.9867 for girls, and p<0.001 for both), but only weakly with both height (r= 0.2137-0.4070, p<0.001 for all) and weight (r= 0.1965- 0.3735, p<0.001 for all) in children of same age. Twenty six regression formulae from age, height and weight were developed. In addition, a certain association between NET and sexual maturation was found. This indicates that eruption of the permanent teeth is able to reflect children's development too. Therefore, it may be regarded as an index of evaluation of growth and development in children.

Key words: Eruption of the permanent teeth; Age; Height; Weight; Menarche; Evaluation of the deveiopment