Background: Considerable variations in the development stage among patients of the same chronological age have led to introduce the concept of the developmental age based on the maturation of different organs such as cervical vertebrae or teeth.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between the stages of tooth calcification and the cervical vertebral maturation in Iranian females.
Patients and methods: Four hundred females (age range, 8 to 14 years) participated in the study. To determine the dental maturational stage, calcification of the mandibular teeth except for third molars were rated according to the method suggested by Demirjian et al. To evaluate the stage of skeletal maturation, cervical vertebral morphologic changes were assessed on lateral cephalometric radiographs according to the method explained by Baccetti et al. Correlations between bone maturation and teeth calcification were showed by Spearman's correlation and Kendall's tau-b coefficients. The relevant associations were investigated by ordinal logistic regression models.
Results: Correlations between the two stages were observed in the first and second premolars, canine and central incisors. All these correlations were significant. The association between cervical vertebral maturation and tooth calcification was greatest in the lateral incisor (odds ratio (OR) = 11, 95% confidence interval (CI): 6.6-18.3). However, considering the 95% CI for OR, no significant difference was detected among the second molar, first molar and lateral incisor.
Conclusion: The relationship between calcification of teeth and maturation of cervical bones was significant. Bone maturation can be predicted by using teeth calcification stages, especially in the second molar, first molar and lateral incisor.
Keywords: Cervical Vertebrae; Radiography, Panoramic; Tooth Calcification.