Comparison of cervical vertebral maturation, hand wrist skeletal maturity indicators, and dental age in growing patients: A retrospective study

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To correlate McNamara’s User’s Guide for Cervical Vertebral Maturation, Fishman’s Hand Wrist Maturation, Chronological Age, and Dental Age for the assessment of Skeletal Maturation in growing orthodontic patients of different ethnic groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 253 patients (127 males and 126 females) from different ethnic groups with lateral cephalograms, orthopantomograms, and hand-wrist radiographs were analyzed. Statistical analysis was performed, including Pearson’s correlation coefficient, ANOVA, and Tukey post hoc analysis. RESULTS: Strong correlations were observed between CA, Demirjian’s DA, CVM, and HWM ( r = 0.732–0.872, P < 0.001). Significant differences among age assessment methods were identified using ANOVA, with Tukey post hoc analysis highlighting differences between CA and DA ( P = 0.006) and CVM and SMI ( P < 0.001). No significant differences were found between CA and CVM ( P = 0.979) or DA and SMI ( P = 0.774). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated a significant correlation between CVM, HWM, CA, and DA in assessing skeletal maturation across different ethnic groups.