Allometric Study between Bone Maturation, Growth of the Craniofacial Structures and Growth of Stature in Japanese Children

In clinical orthodontic practice, many of the patients are in the growing and developing stage, and most of them are treated at the stage inclusive of puberty. We must grasp the individual growth increment, direction and timing when we diagnose our patients as malocclusion and decide on orthodontic treatment in the growing and developing stage. The subjects consisted of 68 patients, 29 males and 39 females, with nine year series from six to fifteen years old because growth and development is very active in children in the stage of this age range, which is frequently subject to clinical orthodontic treatment. In this study, the longitudinal data, which were measured from the lateral and postero-anterior cephalograms, hand-wrist radiographs, body height and weight at the same time, were used as an index of bone age to study the changes in growth and development of height, weight and craniofacial structures. The results obtained were as follows. 1. In growth for males at the stage of puberty, the spurt of the height, weight, mandibular length (Ar-Pog) and anterior facial height (Me-Me') occurred at the bone age of 11. The peak of growth was at the bone age of 14, when the sesamoid bone appeared. 2. In growth for femels at the stage of puberty in the same measurements, the spurt occurred at the bone age of 11. The peak of growth was at the bone age of 12, when the sesamoid bone appeared. The annual growth increment of height increased with aging. The peak of height was at the bone age of 12. 3. After the peak of growth at the stage of puberty in the annual growth increment, nearly all measurements for females were less than those for males. After the peak in the male growth increment, there were little changes in weight, mandibular length and mandibular distance (B-B').