Cervical vertebrae staging in pre-orthodontic patients in Benin City, Nigeria

Objective: To determine the prevalence of the various stages of skeletal maturation of the cervical vertebrae in pre-orthodontic patients in Benin City, Nigeria.Method: The first six cervical vertebrae of 105 untreated orthodontic patients attending the clinic of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital were assessed on the cephalometric radiograph to determine the stages of maturation. Correlations between age, gender, type of malocclusion and skeletal maturation stages were determined using the software SPSS (version 16). Significant values of P<0.05 were applied were applicable.Result: The average age of participants was 14±1.5 years with an almost equal gender distribution. Cervical vertebrae maturation (CVM) stage 3 was the most frequently occurring with 26.7% of the sample population. This was also seen mostly in the 11-yearold age group. The least frequently reported was CVM stage 1 with 5.7%. According to dento-skeletal patterns, CVM stage 3 was most prevalent in bimaxillary proclination with (29.3%). Others include mandibular retrusion, maxillary protrusion and skeletal 2 with 26.3%, 25% and 17.2% espectively. Males showed a higher distribution in the CVM stage 3 than females. There was also a significant association between age and Cervical maturation, P<0.05.Conclusion: Cervical Maturation stages 1-6 were identified in pre-orthodontic patients aged 7-21-years. Stage 3 was the most frequently occurring.CVM stage and is seen more in 11-year-old-males. Females demonstrated a higher number in CVM stages 4 and 5. The correlation coefficient between age and CVM was 0.86 (P<0.05) for stage 3. Key words: Cervical vertebrae, staging, orthodontic