Skeletal Maturity Indicators – Simplified Method for Clinical Reference

The stage of Skeletal Maturation of an individual is essential for assessing the growth potential of an individual. This helps in formulating Diagnosis and Treatment Planning which may affect the final prognosis of the orthodontic treatment. The course of orthodontic treatment often depends upon the intensity of facial growth. Thus the knowledge of the timing of these growth velocity variations in craniofacial complex is important in clinical orthodontics. There are different methods of assessing skeletal maturity for orthodontic treatment purpose. The main source is Hand Wrist X-rays, Cephalograms and Radiographs for assessing the status of dental development. Review of Literature reveals a wide data on this aspect related to methods and the correlation between different methods. Most of them are academically oriented. The purpose of this article is to present a simplified method for clinical reference during treatment. .