Is the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method effective enough to replace the hand-wrist maturation (HWM) method in determining skeletal maturation?—A systematic review

Highlights: • The CVM method shows a high level of correlation with the HWM method. • The CVM method does not expose the patient to additional radiation exposure. • Chronological age is not the indicator of skeletal age. - Abstract: IntroductionChronological age provides only general information on the development of a child/adolescent. However, the biological age of the patient is more significant. One of the methods is the determination of the bone age based on the development of the hand and wrist bones. In 1972 a method for assessing cervical vertebral maturation on the cephalometric radiographs was introduced (CVM method). As a result, additional patient radiation was eliminated. Currently, this type of radiograph is routinely applied in orthodontic treatment.