Nerilda García; Antonio Sanhueza; Mario Cantín & Ramón Fuentes

Summary

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are significant differences in cervical posture in adolescent subjects with a different skeletal class. Twenty-eight adolescent subjects (21 boys and 7 girls, average age of 13.6 years, SD±3.2) who were admitted for orthodontic treatment were included in this study. Selection criteria were as follows: no previous orthodontic, orthopaedic, or surgical treatment and absence of facial asymmetry, bruxism, nasal obstruction, orofacial pain, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction. Lateral skull radiographs were taken, and the subjects were divided into three groups based on their skeletal class according to ANB angle and Wits appraisal. The cephalometric tracings included cervical postural variables and cervical curvature. By Pearson´s correlation analysis (using the variables as continuous), we found a high linear relationship between the variables angle ANB and Wits appraisal (0.7895) and between cervical curvature and C0-C1 distance (0.6384). Statistical significance was observed between ANB angle and cervical curvature (p = 0.039) and C0-C1 distance (p = 0.045) variables, whereas Wits appraisal showed no significant association with any study variable (p > 0.05). The cervical curvature was different between the groups; however, both averages turned out to have more characteristics of rectified cervical, being female clearly the most affected, as well as an average lower than the standard posterior-inferior angle, which shows a more posterior rotation of the skull. The cervical posture seems to be strongly associated with the sagittal posture as well as the vertical structure of the face, with these data being complementary to other determinants of craniofacial growth and development.

KEY WORDS: Cervical posture; Skeletal class; Craniocervical abnormalities; Cervical curvature.

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