Moammar Al-Rifai, Nadia El Harouni And Essam Osman,

ABSTRACT
The Purpose Of This Study Was To Correlate Radiographically The Reliability Of The Use Of Cervical Vertebrae Maturation Versus The Conventional Hand Wrist Maturation In Assessing The Skeletal Maturation Stage In A Sample Of Lebanese Adolescent Population.

Materials and Methods: This Study Was Carried Out As A Non-experimental, Cross-sectional Design. Forty Patients Between The Age Range Of 9 To 15 Years, Were Selected Conveniently, Fulfilling A Specific Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria From The Outpatient Clinic Of Orthodontic Division, Faculty Of Dentistry, Beirut Arab University, Lebanon. Participants Were Either Undergoing Orthodontic Treatment Or Seeking Orthodontic Consultation. Correlation Of Cervical Vertebrae Maturation Stage (CS) And The Conventional Hand Wrist Maturation Indicator (SMI) Was Tested Using The Spearman (r) Test.

Results: It Was Found That There Was A Statistically Significant Positive Correlation Between Cervical Stage (CS) And Skeletal Maturity Indicator (SMI) Where R=0.918 (p<0.001) For Both Genders. Higher Coefficient Of Correlation In Females Than That Of Males Was Found. Conclusion: In Evaluating Skeletal Maturity, Cervical Vertebral Maturation Method Has A High Correlation With The Hand-wirst Maturation Method. Thus The CVM Method Can Be A Reliable Alternative To The HWM Method In Assessing Skeletal Maturity.