Evaluation of the Pubertal Growth Spurt Times on Different Malocclusions: A Cross Sectional Study

Aim: This study aims to compare and examine the relationship between pubertal growth spurt time and malocclusion types. Methods: Hand-wrist and lateral cephalometric radiographs of 1500 patients were examined. Among these records, 279 patients in the peak period of the pubertal growth spurt were included in the study. Skeletal malocclusion of the patients was determined with cephalometric analysis via ANB (˚) angle. If the ANB angle was between 0˚ and 4˚, it was recorded as skeletal Class I; if it was greater than 4˚, it was recorded as Class II; and if it was less than 0˚, it was recorded as Class III. Data were analyzed with one-way analysis of variance and Tukey post hoc tests. Kappa test was also performed to check intraobserver reliability. Results: Intraobserver reliability was found to be excellent. The mean age at the pubertal growth spurt was 12.08 ± 0.8 years in girls and 13.71 ± 1 years in boys. When the age of the pubertal growth spurt was examined according to malocclusion, a statistically significant difference was found between the mean ages of Class I, Class II and Class III. When pubertal growth spurt ages were compared between sexes, a statistically significant difference was found between girls and boys in all malocclusion types. Conclusion: Girls in all malocclusion groups started the pubertal growth spurt earlier than boys. Additionally, it was observed that girls with Class III malocclusion reached pubertal growth spurt earlier than other groups.