A cross-sectional study on the skeletal development of the hand and wrist from preadolescence to early adulthood among Chinese in Taiwan.

In order to study the skeletal development of the hand-wrist among Chinese in Taiwan, a total of 1,679 hand-wrist radiographs were collected from the files in the Division of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, National Taiwan University and the Orthodontic Clinic of the National Taiwan University Hospital. The ages of the subjects ranged from 6.3 years to 22.7 years. The nine commonly used ossification events, PP2 = ,MP3 = ,S, MP3cap, DP3u, MP3u, Riu, Rau and Rcu, were used in this study. It was found that the sequence of the nine skeletal maturation stages did not differ between males and females and was generally in agreement with similar studies among other ethnic groups. A statistically significant difference did exist between the males and females in the mean ages of onset of the skeletal maturation stages. All of the skeletal stages were more advanced in the females than in the males. The mean ages of the nine skeletal maturation stages obtained in this study could be used as a reference for daily pedodontic and orthodontic practice as well as for related studies. Although there was no intention of making a statistical comparison of the data for the Chinese with those of other ethnic groups, some diagrammatic illustrations for comparison were made.