Third Molar Maturation Stages in Correlation with Cervical Vertebra Maturation Stages in a Saudi Sample

The orthodontic treatment is most favorable and effective during growth and hence the assessment of growth is significant in treatment planning for dental and maxillofacial malocclusion [1,2]. Several features such as body height, weight and sexual characteristics, dental and skeletal development are used to evaluate the pubertal growth. The stage of tooth maturation can determine the dental maturity and many studies have found an association between dental maturity and skeletal maturity. At present, analysis of cervical vertebrae is extensively used to assess skeletal maturity due to its reproducibility from a routine diagnostic lateral cephalogram for orthodontic treatment [3,4]. Various authors have noted that the developmental stages of certain teeth show a high correlation with skeletal maturity [5]. Yet very few studies [6,7] are done to evaluate the relationship between tooth calcification stage and cervical vertebra maturation stage. The purpose of this present study is to evaluate the correlation between the CVM stages method and dental maturity using tooth calcification stages of third molars.