The spheno-occipital synchondrosis: the missing link between the profession's concept of craniofacial growth and orthodontic treatment.

The role of the speno-occipital synchondrosis in craniofacial growth as it affects the spatial position of the upper face and maxillary dentition has been masked by the traditional method of superimposing cephalometric tracings on the anterior cranial base. Furthermore, the erroneous assumption that the overall direction of growth of the face is demonstrated by superimosing stable areas of the anterior cranial base has led to gross misinterpretation of treatment results throughout our literature.