Comparative evaluation of chronological age stages with bone age, hand-wrist developmental periods and cervical vertebrae maturation stages in Turkish population

The aim of this thesis study was to evaluate the correlation between chronological age stages and bone age, hand-wrist developmental periods, and cervical vertebrae maturation stages for Turkish population. The study materials consisted of hand-wrist and lateral cephalometric radiographs of male and female subjects aged between 8-19 years, taken between 2010-2020 years and availabe in the archives of Ortodontic Department of Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University, Malatya İnönü University, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Gazi University and Ordu University Faculties of Dentistry. Male and female subjects were divided into 11 chronological age groups, age spanning a one-year period. Bone age was determined using Greulich-Plye Atlas. The methos decribed by Fishman (1982) and Baccetti et al. (2005) were used to determine the hand-wrist developmetal periods and cervical vertebrae maturations stages, respectively. Strong correlation was determined between chronological age stages and bone age, hand-wrist developmental periods, and cervical vertebrae maturation stages. When the distribution of hand-wrist developmental periods and cervical vertebrae maturation stages were evaluated according to chronological age stages, the skeletal maturation was observed occurs earlier in females. Our thesis study results revealed stong correlation of bone age, hand-wrist developmental periods, and cervical vertebrae maturation stages with chronological age stages. Besides, these three methods are found valid methods for determining of chronological age. Key Words: Hand-Wrist Bones, Cervical Vertebrae, Bone Age, Cephalometric Radiographs