title: Correlation between spheno-occipital synchondrosis, dental age, chronological age and cervical vertebrae maturation in Turkish population: is there a link?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the correlation between third molar mineralization (TMM), spheno-occipital synchondrosis (SOS) fusion, chronologic age and cervical vertebrae maturation (CVM) for skeletal maturation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Radiographs for 116 patients between 8 and 28 years were evaluated for age determination using mandibular TMM, SOS fusion and CVM. Spearman Correlation and Kappa test analyses were used to assess the relationship between variables and for intraobserver reliability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Strong correlation was found between chronological age and TMM for males (r = .802) and females (r = .842), very strong correlation was found between age and CVM for males (r = .812) and moderate for females (r = .449), it was strong between age and SOS fusion for males (r = .810) and females (r = .643). Correlation between TMM and SOS was found to be strong for males (r = .759) and moderate for females (r = .534), it was strong between TMM and CVM for males (r = .723) and weak for females (r = .371). Very strong correlation was found between CVM and SOS fusion for males (r = .851) and strong correlation for females (r = .618).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Good correlation was found between the degrees of TMM, fusion of SOS and CVM in young Turkish population.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Comprehensive Dentistry , The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio , TX , USA.
authors.forename: Husniye
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Demirturk Kocasarac
authors.affiliation: b Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry , Kocaeli University , Kocaeli , Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse Burcu
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Altan
authors.affiliation: c Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry , Ondokuz Mayis University , Samsun , Turkey.
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yerlikaya
authors.affiliation: d Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry , Kocaeli University , Kocaeli , Turkey.
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinanoglu
authors.affiliation: a Department of Comprehensive Dentistry , The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio , TX , USA.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Noujeim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton / Q000379:methods*; D000366:Age Determination by Teeth / Q000379:methods*; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008964:Molar, Third / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development; D009777:Occipital Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014074:Tooth Calcification; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Spheno-occipital synchondrosis; orthodontic treatment; skeletal age; third molar mineralization