Dental maturation in children with shunt-treated hydrocephalus

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between dental maturation and somatic development and to discover their possible deviations in children with shunt-treated hydrocephalus. Design: Radiographs (orthopantomogram and hand-wrist radiograph) from children with shunt-treated hydrocephalus were analyzed with respect to the dental maturation and compared with values of an age- and sex-matched control group and population standards. Patients: Forty-one children with shunt-treated hydrocephalus (27 boys and 14 girls) aged from 5 to 16 years (median age 11.0 years). Results: The mean deviation of dental age from chronological age was significantly greater in the hydrocephalic group than in the control group. The mean value of dental age deviation was advanced in early pubertal stages but reduced in later pubertal stages. Conclusions: These findings can be explained by changes in the endocrinological conditions, which are due to disturbed pituitary secretion. The present results could also partly reflect an adaptable developmental pathway in an otherwise strictly genetically determined process.