Relationship between age at menarche, body mass index percentile, and skeletal maturity stages in Indian female orthodontic patients
Introduction Skeletal maturity is of paramount importance for the diagnosis and prognosis of orthodontic treatment undertaken in adolescents. This can be assessed by different methods. The study here aims at evaluation of the effect of the onset of menarche and body mass index (BMI) percentile, i.e., overall body growth, on the skeletal maturation of adolescent females and, to find the relationship between age at menarche, cervical maturation stages, and BMI percentile in female orthodontic patients of Indian origin. Materials and Methods Adolescent females were asked to fill a questionnaire to extract the history of their menarche and chronological age and those within 3 months of menarche were selected. Their height and weight were measured under standard conditions and BMI was calculated. Lateral cephalograms obtained for them were scaled for cervical vertebrae maturation stages according to Hassel and Farman’s method. These parameters were then statistically correlated. Results The results showed that the girls with higher BMI percentile attained menarche early than their healthier counterparts, whereas attaining menarche did not correlate with any specific stage of skeletal maturity. Conclusion Young girls coming for orthodontic treatment should be carefully assessed for skeletal maturity, as variable amount of skeletal growth may be left even after attaining menarche.