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Cervical vertebral maturation: Are postpubertal stages attained in all subjects?
Giuseppe Perinetti1, Camilla Braga2, Luca Contardo2
1Private Practice, Nocciano (PE), Italy.
Summary
Not all adults reach postpubertal cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) stages 5 or 6. Some individuals remain in pubertal stage 4, indicating CVM timing alone may not be fully reliable for orthodontic treatment planning.
Area of Science:
- Orthodontics
- Dentofacial Orthopedics
- Radiographic Cephalometry
Background:
- The cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method categorizes skeletal maturity into six stages, crucial for orthodontic treatment timing.
- Reliable application assumes progression to postpubertal stages (5-6) after the pubertal growth peak.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the attainment of postpubertal CVM stages (5 or 6) in an adult orthodontic population.
- To assess the prevalence of pubertal CVM stages in adults.
Main Methods:
- Lateral head films of 450 adult orthodontic patients (20-45 years) were analyzed.
- Customized cephalometric analysis determined CVM stages and a novel CVM score.
- CVM codes were assessed for deviations from norms.
Main Results:
- CVM stage 5 was most frequent; stage 6 was observed in only one-third of subjects.
- Approximately 11% of adult subjects exhibited pubertal CVM stage 4.
- No significant sex or age differences were found in CVM stage or score.
- The characteristic rectangular vertical shape of C4 was infrequent (16.4%).
Conclusions:
- A relevant percentage of the adult population retains pubertal CVM stage 4.
- Relying solely on CVM for orthodontic treatment timing may lack complete reliability.
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