Abstract
It is important for pedodontists to understand the degree of orofacial growth and development in children and to prevent treatment induced anomalies. Dwarfism occurs in several diseases and is defined as short stature (i.e., ＜2 SD or 3 percentile less than the height of the standard value for that age and sex). Dwarfism is classified into two groups. One is caused by partial or complete inhibition of growth hormone secretion, while the other group is not. There are a number of patients with dwarfism, in Japan, but only a few reports have been published in the dental field. Therefore, to collect the evidence in dental clinical practice needed to prevent treatment induced anomalies, we evaluated the oral and craniofacial growth and development in 8 children with short statue in cooperation with the division of Orthodontics, Meikai University, Department of Pediatrics and of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Saitama Medical School. The following results were obtained ;1.Dental age was delayed relative to the chronological age in 4 of 8 children, while bone age was delayed in all children. The bone age tended to be delayed more than the dental age.2.Angle classⅡocclusion occurred in 6 of 8 children.3.There were no common findings regarding tooth size in these 8 children, but both upper and lower arch widths tended to be narrow.4.On cephalometric analysis, growth retardation in the craniofacial bones was found in all participants compared to standard values for the same age and sex. The tendency was especially remarkable in the mandibular region.
