Diagnostic assessment of tooth maturation of the mandibular second molars as a skeletal maturation indicator: A retrospective longitudinal study

Methods: Records of 60 Canadian patients obtained from the Burlington Growth Centre, which included height and weight charts and a set of x-rays at 6 points in time, were analyzed. The images at each point in time included 1 hand and wrist radiograph, a lateral cephalometric x-ray, and one 45° oblique cephalometric radiograph of each side, which were analyzed using the methods of Fishman, Baccetti, and Demirjian on the mandibular left and right second molars, respectively. The onset of the pubertal growth peak in height (distance to growth peak [DGP]) was identified, and the correlation between methods with DGP was assessed. Results: High levels of correlation were obtained between the methods of Fishman, Baccetti, and Demirjian with DGP. The cutoff point between prepubertal and postpubertal stages was F stage for women and G stage for men, with statistically significant levels of sensitivity and specificity for the test. Conclusions: The use of the method of Demirjian applied to mandibular second molars is plausible as a predictor of the occurrence of the DGP for the studied population.