Relationship Between Cervical Vertebral Development Stages and the Ossification of the Zygomaticomaxillary Suture in Individuals Aged 6–18

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between ossification of the zygomaticomaxillary suture and cervical vertebral maturation to find the appropriate age for maxillary protraction. Method and Materials: This cross-sectional retrospective study was performed on 222 CT scans of patients aged between 6 and 18 (including 161 males and 61 females). Zygomaticomaxillary suture (ZMS) maturation and cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) were assessed in 5 and 6 stages, respectively. The Mann-Whitney, Spearman, Kruskal-Wallis, independent samples T test, and logistic regression were used for data analysis. P <0.05 was considered significant. Results: If a child is at stage 1 in CVM, 87.5% of the time is at stage A in ZMS maturation. In case a child is at stage 2 in CVM, 46.5% of the time is at stage B, and 41.4% is in stage C in ZMS maturation. In case a child is at stage 3 in CVM, 70.8% of the time is at stage C in ZMS maturation. In case a child is at stage 4 in CVM, 64.5% of the time is at stage D in ZMS maturation. Conclusion: According to the fact that patients who are in stages A and B of ZMS maturation respond better to maxillary protraction, it was indicated that if the CVM stage is 1, it is strongly related to stage A of ZMS maturation. Stage 2 in CV maturation can be related to stages B or C of ZMS maturation and CVM stage 3 is highly related to stage C of ZMS maturation.