Background Pubertal growth spurt assessment guides the timing of intervention for correcting the skeletal discrepancies in dentofacial orthopedics. Serum hormones are being studied for the skeletal age assessment to avoid unnecessary radiographic exposure. The present study is to evaluate the relationship of serum hormones dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S), insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), and cervical vertebral stages (CS stages) in the skeletal age assessment of orthodontics patients around the circumpubertal age. Methods A total of ninety subjects with age ranging from 7 to 21 years were selected and divided into two groups based on the sex (45 males, 45 females). They were further distributed in each group based on the six CS stages determined from the lateral cephalogram. Blood samples from each subject were collected to evaluate the serum DHEA-S and IGF-1 levels by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Collected data were analyzed in SPSS software with a test of normalcy, unpaired t test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the least significant difference (LSD) post hoc comparison test and univariate regression analysis. Results The highest mean serum hormone levels were found in CS 4 in group A (male) and CS 3 in group B (female). ANOVA results showed that there was a significant difference in the serum hormone levels among the different CS stages in both the groups for both the hormones. Statistically, a significant difference was found between each CS stages for both the hormones except in the DHEA-S levels between CS 5 and CS 6. Conclusions The mean serum DHEA-S levels followed a typical pattern from the CS 1 till CS 6 which was comparable and similar to the mean serum IGF-1 levels in respect to CS stages. Thus, serum DHEA-S levels could be used as a possible diagnostic test for the assessment of the skeletal pubertal growth spurt in dentofacial orthopedics.

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Objective: The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of cervical vertebra anomalies (CVA) in individuals with different sagittal and vertical skeletal growth patterns of jaws and also to establish the associations of anomalies with the type of growth, if any. Materials and Methods: A total of 293 lateral cephalograms were evaluated for CVA. Based on the Frankfort mandibular plane angle, cephalograms were categorized into three groups: Group I, II, and III. Based on the ANB angle, cephalograms were classified into three classes, Class 1, 2, and 3. Six types of CVA such as partial cleft (PC), block fusion (BF), dehiscence (D), fusion between C2 and C3 (F23), occipitalization (OC), and spina bifida (SB) were identified on lateral cephalograms. Descriptive statistics were applied along with multinomial logistic regression analysis. P = 0.05 was considered as the level of statistical significance. Results: PC was most common in the overall samples (36%). BF was the least common (3.2%) CVA. The frequency of various CVA was comparable between males and females in all the three classes of individuals. The association of vertical growth patterns with CVA was found to be statistically nonsignificant ( P > 0.05). Class 2 malocclusion was found to be statistically significantly associated with the D ( P = 0.043). Conclusions: PC, fusion, and D were the most frequently found CVA, and SB was found only among the hypodivergent growth pattern individuals. The association of CVA with vertical facial growth patterns was not significant, somewhat influenced by age, sex, and sagittal skeletal malocclusions.

Background: To evaluate the relationship between the overjet with pre and post orthodontic treatmentBolton’s analysis and with Peck & Peck index. Materials and Methods: Pre and post-treatment orthodontic study models (n=30) of patients in the age range of 18 to 35 years, who underwent orthodontic treatment were evaluated for overjet, Bolton’s analysis (overall ratio & anterior ratio) and Peck & Peck index (in 31,32,41&42). A digital Vernier caliper was used for all the measurements. The collected data was analyzed in SPSS software using appropriate statistical tests based on normality to compare the pre- and post-treatment mean values and Pearson’s correlation was done between the Bolton’s analysis and Peck & Peck index with overjet. The p value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The Pearson’s correlation revealed an inverse correlation between Bolton’s anterior ratio and overjet (pre:-0.226, post:-0.254). The pre-treatment overjet with Peck & Peck index revealed an inverse correlation in PP 31 (-0.230) and positive correlation in other teeth. The correlation in the post-treatment overjet with Peck & Peck index was an inverse correlation in all teeth (-0.347; -0.184; -0.184 & -0.074 in PP31, PP32, PP41 & PP42 respectively).