title: Craniofacial and cervical morphology related to sagittal spinal posture in children and adolescents.
abstract: Studies on the relationship between body posture and craniofacial parameters often focus on the cervical spine. Thus, less attention has been paid to the morphology of the vertebra C2 that serves as both a structural and functional link between the craniofacial area and the other part of the spine. The objective of this study was to assess the relation of craniofacial features to certain morphological and positional characteristics of the cervical vertebrae and the spine during growth. We determined body posture indices for 69 children and adolescents by means of a radiation-free method (rasterstereography). The morphological and positional analysis of the craniofacial area and the cervical vertebrae was based on standardized lateral X-ray cephalograms. Medium to strong correlations were found between body posture, C2 morphology, and craniofacial parameters. We found significant correlations between the C2 dens axis height and maxillary indices as well as between the C2 dens axis inclination and cephalometrical values of the mandibular area. Similarly the correlation between the C2 dens axis inclination and the postural index flèche cervicale was highly significant (P < 0.05, r = 0.333). These results suggest that morphological features of the odontoid process may serve as valuable predictive markers in interdisciplinary orthopedic-orthodontic diagnostics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos Körút 64, Szeged 6720, Hungary.
authors.forename: Emil
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6991-9192
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Segatto
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics and Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos Körút 64, Szeged 6720, Hungary.
authors.forename: Angyalka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Segatto
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Szeged, Tisza Lajos Körút 64, Szeged 6720, Hungary.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Braunitzer
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University Medical Center Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauß-Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9473-8724
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kirschneck
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University Medical Center Regensburg, Franz-Josef-Strauß-Allee 11, 93053 Regensburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8763-5214
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fanghänel
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Dental Clinic of Witten Herdecke, Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50, 58448 Witten, Germany.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5886-4907
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Danesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, University of Muenster, Waldeyerstraße 30, 48149 Muenster, Germany.
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0339-731X
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lippold
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002508:Cephalometry; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D002648:Child; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007738:Kyphosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology*