Assessment of the duration of the pubertal growth spurt in patients with skeletal open bite : A cross-sectional study

The objectives were to assess the skeletal age of patients with skeletal open bite and to estimate and compare the mean chronological age related to CS3 and CS4 (cervical stage, CS) and the duration of the pubertal growth spurt (PGS).

Orthodontic records of 145 patients were analyzed in this retrospective cross-sectional study. The study group comprised 104 patients with skeletal open bite (angle between cranial base plane line [NS] and mandible base plane line [ML] > 39° according to Steiner), whereas the control group comprised 41 patients with normal anteroposterior and vertical measurements. Skeletal age was assessed using the 6‑stage CVM (cervical vertebral maturation) method according to Baccetti. Quantitative variables were characterized by means of the arithmetic mean and standard deviation. The PGS duration was calculated as the difference between the means of the chronological ages related to CS3 and CS4.

In the study group, the arithmetic means related to CS3 and CS4 were 11.12 and 13.54 years, respectively; the duration of the PGS was 2.42 years. In the control group, the arithmetic means related to CS3 and CS4 were 10.71 and 11.82 years, respectively; the duration of the PGS was 1.11 years.

In patients with skeletal open bite, the duration of PGS is longer but it occurs at a similar chronological age compared to patients with normal anteroposterior and vertical measurements. The PGS in males begins later than in females. Knowledge on the longer growth spurt in patients with skeletal open bite compared to patients with normal anteroposterior and vertical relationships can be useful in the selection of an appropriate therapeutic method and also provides information about the possibility of a longer and thus more effective orthopedic approach directed at positive change in the vertical growth pattern during intense bone remodeling.