Evaluation of the cephalometric centroid point in individuals before and after the pubertal growth peak

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the behavior of the Centroid point, known as the geometric center of the face, before and after the growth peak using lateral cephalometric x-ray. Methods: Sample consisted of 40 patients before and after pubertal peak of growth selected from the archive of the São Leopoldo Mandic Institute and Research Center, Campinas, Brazil. Anatomical structures, reference points, lines and planes were traced, and posteriorly a superimposition was performed using the palatal plane and a line perpendicular to this passage through the most posterior point of the pterygomaxillary fossa as reference. Later, the distance between the two centroid points (before and after the peak of puberty) was measured using the digital caliper, both horizontally and vertically. The palatal plane (x-axis) and a line perpendicular to this passage through the most posterior point of the pterygomaxilary fossa (y-axis) were chosen because they undergo minimal changes during growth. Results: No significant difference on the location of Centroid points on both X and Y axis (p >0.05) were observed between before and after the growth peak cephalometric tracings, showing an average change in positioning of 0.36mm on the X axis and 0.37mm on the Y axis. Conclusions: For this reason, this point can be indicated to be used clinically as a stable reference to evaluate craniofacial growth while performing superimposition methods.