Evolution of evaluation": skeletal age assessment using cervical vertebral maturation: a literature review

The ideal time to start an orthodontic treatment is a controversial topic.Different authors have reported different methods in an attempt to determine the best indicator of maturity, which include body height, body weight; sexual maturation; frontal sinus, chronological age, biological age or physiological age; hand-wrist maturity cervical vertebrae; dental eruption; dental calcification stages and biomarkers. Although the carpal radiograph is proven to be efficient and safe, presently, new proposals to evaluate the bony age have appeared with the intention to reduce the number of radiographic exposures to the patients. The purpose of this article is to review one such method, which is Cervical vertebral maturation analysis and its various application in dentistry.