Assessment of skeletal maturity in the cervical vertebrae in Egyptian sample with different vertical facial and body heights

Abstract Introduction Chronological age has not proved to be the most reliable method to determine the biological maturity level of the individual, so other indicators are recommended including cervical vertebrae index which is an important indicator of skeletal maturity which has a direct relationship with body height. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the skeletal maturity in the cervical vertebrae in Egyptian early adolescent female sample with different vertical facial and body heights. Materials and methods The present study was performed on 150 cephalometric radiographs of Egyptian orthodontic female patients with their age ranged from 10 to 13 years. The radiographs were randomly collected from the files of patients seeking orthodontic treatment in the Orthodontic Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Tanta University. Medical history was taken from the patients and the patient body height as well. Results The results indicate that the vertical facial height was significant with patient length in a positive correlation while age was significant with patient length in direct relationship while the patient length was significant to both vertical facial height and age in direct relationship. Conclusion Short females are usually vertical growers with increased anterior vertical facial height, shorter time of adolescent growth spurt and earlier skeletal maturation, while tall patients are horizontal growers with decreased anterior vertical facial height, longer time of adolescent growth spurt and delayed skeletal maturation. As a result, the time to commence orthodontic treatment might be earlier in short female patients than tall patients.