Predictability of Craniofacial Skeletal Age with Geometric Morphometries

Area of Science:

• Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
• Radiology
• Anthropology

Background:

• Accurate skeletal age assessment is crucial for orthodontic treatment planning.
• Traditional methods rely on hand and wrist radiographs, which involve additional radiation exposure.
• Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) offers detailed craniofacial imaging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate craniofacial skeletal age using geometric morphometrics on CBCT data.
• To explore the correlation between craniofacial shape and skeletal age determined by hand/wrist radiographs.
• To develop a new equation for craniofacial skeletal age estimation.

Main Methods:

• Generalized Procrustes analysis (GPA) of craniofacial shape and centroid size estimation from 48 growing patients' CBCT scans.
• Correlation analysis between centroid size, chronological age, and skeletal age (Greulich and Pyle method) using Pearson's coefficient.
• Multiple regression analysis performed using SPSS version 22.

Main Results:

• Mean skeletal age was 11.9 ± 2.4 years.
• Centroid size showed significant positive correlations with both chronological age (R=0.616) and skeletal age (R=0.605).
• A statistically significant relationship (p < 0.01) was found between craniofacial shape metrics and skeletal age.

Conclusions:

• A novel equation was developed to determine craniofacial skeletal age using centroid size, gender, and chronological age.
• CBCT imaging can be utilized for skeletal age assessment, potentially replacing the need for hand and wrist radiographs.
• This CBCT-based approach offers a more efficient and potentially less irradiating method for assessing skeletal maturity in growing individuals.