The correlation between cervical vertebral maturation and mandibular dimensions in children aged 8-16 years: study on children’s population in Jakarta, Indonesia

Introduction
The mandible provides a basis for occlusion and mastication in collaboration with the maxilla. It is important to perform biological assessments of growth and development of the mandible in dentofacial orthopedics.

Objectives
The aim of this cross-sectional study was to analyze a correlation between cervical vertebral maturation and changes occurring in mandibular dimensions to predict the right time for orthopedic treatments, using data of 30 lateral cephalograms of subjects (18 girls, 12 boys), aged 8-16 years in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Material and methods
Following parameters were evaluated in this study: visual measurements of lateral cephalogram, mandibular dimensions assessed from the total mandibular length of a condylon-gnathion line, height of mandibular ramus from the condylon–gonion intersection line, and length of mandibular body from the gonion intersection–gnathion line during maturity stages of cervical vertebra (cervical stage 1 to cervical stage 6), which were assessed from the second to fourth branches of cervical vertebral bone. Spearman method was used to analyze a correlation between cervical vertebral maturation and changes in mandibular dimensions.

Results
A significant and strong correlation was observed between cervical vertebral maturation stages and the total mandibular length, the height of mandibular ramus, and the length of mandibular body, along with the pre-pubertal, pubertal, and post-pubertal periods.

Conclusions
Growth and development of the mandible can be used as skeletal maturity indicators during the pubertal age in case of a dentofacial orthopedic treatment.