Comparative investigation of hand-wrist radiograph with ultrasonographic records in determining pubertal growth and bone age of patients with orthodontic treatment needs

Aim: The purpose of this study is, to evaluate the compatibility of ultrasonographic data with hand-wrist graphs taken to determine the extent of pubertal growth in patients who will undergo orthodontic treatment and investigate the usability of ionizing radiation-free ultrasonography instead of conventional radiography. Material and Method: In this study, a total of 120 children from 10- to 17-year-olds (mean age was 168 ± 27,5 months) were treated with routine hand-wrist graphs before orthodontic treatment and ultrasonographic imaging was performed on the wrists the same day. Phalanges, sesamoid bone, and radial bone distal epiphysis-diaphysis were examined comparatively in each patient by both imaging methods and statistically evaluated. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between conventional radiography and ultrasonography values at 13 points except for PP1, PP2 and radial epiphysis (p > 0,05). PP1, PP2, and radial epiphysis were showed a statistically significant difference at 5% significance level (p < 0,05). There was no statistically significant difference between the bone ages and the chronological ages of males. However, the bone ages of the girls were found to be higher than the chronological ages of females (p < 0.05). Ultrasonographic bone age showed statistically significant correlation with both chronological age (r = 0,806) and bone age obtained from conventional graphs (r = 0,812; p < 0,01). Conclusion: Ultrasonography gives detailed information about epiphyseal diaphysis relations. It can be used as an alternative to conventional grafting in the detection of bone age and pubertal growth owing to the absence of ionizing radiation. Keywords: Bone age determination, hand-wrist radiography, ultrasonography.