Craniofacial growth changes of Mongolian children with normal occlusion from 8 to 12 years

The purpose of this study is to quantify the changes of craniofacial skeleton in Mongolian children born in Taiwan. They had normal occlusion and pleasing profiles, received no previous orthodontic treatment, and were aged 8 to 12 years. The subjects included 24 boys and 24 girls from whom lateral cephalograms were taken for the study. After measurements and statistical analysis, the findings in this investigation indicated the following: 1. Although the growth of the mandible showed forward and upward rotation, the growth pattern of craniofacial portion from ages 8 to 12 was stable with no significant difference in angular measurements. Nevertheless, there were significant differences in linear measurements. The linear dimensions exhibited a gradual increase with age for both boys and girls. This fact should be considered in the diagnosis and treatment plan for young patients under 12 years old with anteroposterior discrepancies. 2. There was a considerable degree of sexual dimorphism with boys showing greater angles in the maxilla-mandibular relationship and greater late skeletal and dental changes. Most of the changes in various parameters occurred earlier in girls, and in boys these changes were distributed more evenly over the entire period of study.