Can frontal sinus development be used for the prediction of skeletal maturity at puberty?

The precision of a new procedure predicting skeletal maturity on the basis of frontal sinus development was tested in 59 boys with an Angle class-II division-1 malocclusion. Lateral head films were used for the analysis of frontal sinus development, and handwrist radiographs were used for the assessment of skeletal maturity. The results showed that skeletal maturity could be predicted with a certainty of about 85% when using a 1-year prediction interval and with a certainty of about 75% when using a 2-year prediction interval. In conclusion, the study showed that skeletal maturity can be predicted with rather high accuracy by means of the analysis of frontal sinus development as imaged on lateral headfilms.