Cervical Vertebral Maturation Method for Comparing the Onset and Duration of Pubertal Growth Spurt Between Class I and II Subjects

The present study aimed at evaluating the onset and duration of the pubertal growth spurt in skeletal class I and II individuals, utilizing the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method.

A total of 132 Iranian individuals (class I=68, class II=64) were evaluated retrospectively in this cross-sectional study. Subjects were between 9 and 16 years old and had never undergone orthodontic treatment. Lateral cephalograms of the subjects were independently traced by two examiners to determine their skeletal class, employing Steiner and Wits analyses. Baccetti's CVM method was employed to assess skeletal maturation. The onset and duration of the pubertal growth spurt (CS3-CS4 interval) was analyzed among the two classes and genders using the Independent Samples t-Test.

The duration of the pubertal growth spurt equaled 1.62 (±1.33) years in skeletal class I subjects and 1.34 (±1.21) years in skeletal class II subjects. The difference in duration between the two classes, with an average of 0.28 years (3.36 months), was statistically significant (p<0.001). The average onset age of growth spurt was estimated to be 11.91 (±1.32) years in class I subjects and 11.41 (±1.19) years in class II subjects, but this difference was insignificant (p=0.110). The onset and termination of the pubertal growth spurt occurred later by 1.49 years (p<0.001) and 1.27 years (p<0.001), respectively, in male subjects.

Class I and II subjects had similar growth spurt onset ages, but class II spurt duration was shorter by 3.36 months. Females experienced longer and earlier growth spurts compared to males.