Prediction of the Timing of the Adolescent Growth Spurt from Ossification Events in Hand—Wrist Films

Abstract

The prediction of the timing of the pubertal growth spurt could be helpful in planning some types of orthodontic treatment. It has been suggested that information from hand—wrist radiographs could be used for this purpose. Insufficient attention has been paid to the distinction between ossification events and bone stages. In the present paper it is shown that the uncertainty of prediction of the timing of the peak height Velocity from ossification events in the hand and wrist, is generally large and so they are of limited value for this purpose.