Timing of cervical headgear treatment based on skeletal maturation.

Forty-one patients with clinically diagnosed Class II, Division I malocclusions with midface prognathism were treated with Kloehn-type cervical headgear. All cases included both longitudinal series of lateral cephalometric radiographs and hand-wrist films taken before, during, and after treatment. Skeletal and dental changes were related to specific maturational periods and compared with their related chronologic age to evaluate optimum timing for maximum treatment response. As determined by this study, timing of cervical headgear treatment on the basis of skeletal maturation is a more statistically significant means of obtaining the maximum desirable orthopedic effect than chronologic age. More favorable results were demonstrated during maturational periods that were associated with a higher degree of incremental growth velocity.