The objective of this study is to analyse the diagnostic performance of the circumpubertal dental maturation phases for the identification of individual-specific skeletal maturation phases. A total of 354 healthy subjects, 208 females and 146 males (mean age, 11.1 ± 2.4 years; range, 6.8–17.1 years), were enrolled in the study. Dental maturity was assessed through the calcification stages from panoramic radiographs of the mandibular canine, the first and second premolars, and the second molar. Determination of skeletal maturity was according to the cervical vertebra maturation (CVM) method on lateral cephalograms. Diagnostic performances were evaluated according to the dental maturation stages for each tooth for the identification of the CVM stages and growth phases (as pre-pubertal, pubertal, and post-pubertal) using positive likelihood ratios (LHRs). A positive LHR threshold of 10 or more was considered for satisfactory reliability of any dental maturation stage for the identification of any of the CVM stages or growth phases. The positive LHRs were generally less than 2.0, with a few exceptions. These four teeth showed positive LHRs greater than 10 only for the identification of the pre-pubertal growth phase, with values from 10.8 for the second molar (stage E) to 39.3 for the first premolar (stage E). Dental maturation assessment is only useful for diagnosis of the pre-pubertal growth phase, and thus, precise information in relation to the timing of the onset of the growth spurt is not provided by these indices.

Controversial results have been reported on potential correlations between the stomatognathic system and body posture. We investigated whether malocclusal traits correlate with body posture alterations in young subjects to determine possible clinical applications. A total of 122 subjects, including 86 males and 36 females (age range of 10.8-16.3 years), were enrolled. All subjects tested negative for temporomandibular disorders or other conditions affecting the stomatognathic systems, except malocclusion. A dental occlusion assessment included phase of dentition, molar class, overjet, overbite, anterior and posterior crossbite, scissorbite, mandibular crowding and dental midline deviation. In addition, body posture was recorded through static posturography using a vertical force platform. Recordings were performed under two conditions, namely, i) mandibular rest position (RP) and ii) dental intercuspidal position (ICP). Posturographic parameters included the projected sway area and velocity and the antero-posterior and right-left load differences. Multiple regression models were run for both recording conditions to evaluate associations between each malocclusal trait and posturographic parameters. All of the posturographic parameters had large variability and were very similar between the two recording conditions. Moreover, a limited number of weakly significant correlations were observed, mainly for overbite and dentition phase, when using multivariate models. Our current findings, particularly with regard to the use of posturography as a diagnostic aid for subjects affected by dental malocclusion, do not support existence of clinically relevant correlations between malocclusal traits and body posture.

The objective of this research is to analyze the diagnostic performance of the circumpubertal dental maturation stages of the mandibular canine and second molar, as individual teeth and in combination, for the identification of growth phase.