Quantification of cranial base growth during pubertal growth.

OBJECTIVE

To quantify longitudinal cranial base growth from prepubertal through postpubertal stages of development, as defined by biological indicators of individual skeletal maturity (cervical vertebral maturation - CVM) method and to determine if there is sexual dimorphism resulting from cranial base growth.

DESIGN

A longitudinal cephalometric study.

SETTING

The Dental School of Paulista University, Brazil.

PARTICIPANTS

36 subjects (21 females, 15 males) who were part of a longitudinal growth study and exhibited normal facial and normal vertical growth patterns.

METHODS

Growth maturation of cervical vertebrae stages was assessed by two examiners independently. Cranial base measurements were carried out by one individual and repeated after one month. The growth increments over time were assessed with the one-way repeated-measures analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey multiple comparisions.

RESULTS

There were no significant gender differences. There was a significant increase in all cephalometric measures between the different time points. Ba-Na showed the greatest amount of growth (mean change=2.8 mm). From T2-T3, the greatest amount of growth was found for Se-Na (mean change=3.4 mm) and the lowest for CC-Na (mean change=1.4 mm). Comparing overall changes (T1-T3) all the measurements showed statistically significantly increases (P<0.05). For all comparisons of between-stage changes the cranial base grew more than 2.0 mm during the pubertal growth.

CONCLUSIONS

Linear variables of cranial base showed significant growth during pubertal stages (pre-peak, peak and post-peak). No significant differences.