Correlation between the developmental stages of MP3 and cervical vertebrae

“Background:” The present day methods of skeletal maturity assessment like the hand-wrist radiographs or cervical vertebrae radiographs are expensive and invasive especially for growing children in accounts for high radiation exposure. “Objective:” The purpose of this study was to observe the correlation between the developmental stages of the middle phalanx of the third finger (MP3) and the cervical vertebrae radiographically. “Methods:” Four hundred and eight subjects were randomly derived from a Deutro Malay students in Kecamatan Grogol Petamburan, Jakarta Barat, Indonesia, consisted of 211 males and 197 females between the ages of 7 and 17. Lateral cephalometric and left-hand MP3 radiographs of were examined. MP3 radiographs were taken on periapical film using a standard dental x-ray machine. Each of the MP3 and cervical vertebrae maturation were consist of 5 stages and were evaluated visually from the radiograph. Spearman ‘rho correlation test was used to determine the relationship between two parameters. “Result:” A strong correlation was observed between the developmental stages of MP3 and cervical vertebrae (rho=0.98; p=0.00). “Conclusion:” It can be concluded that radiographically, the MP3 developmental stages changes consistent with cervical vertebrae maturation that indicated the usefulness of this technique in clinical and research work.