Three-dimensional evaluation of palatal vault changes in children. A longitudinal study

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate palatal vault change in children and to assess the reliability of two palatal parameters in assessing growth modifications. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A group of 26 healthy white children aged 5.3 ± 0.3 years (15 boys, 11 girls) were randomly selected. Impressions of the upper dental arches were obtained at baseline and at 12, 18, and 30 months follow-up. Three-dimensional digital images of study casts were obtained using a laser scanning device. Palatal surface area and palatal volume were measured on the digital study casts at each time point. Effect size (ES) coefficients were calculated for both parameters as indices of diagnostic reliability in individual subjects when at least equal to 1.0. RESULTS: Significant increases in palatal surface area and volume were seen over the observation period (P < .001). ES coefficients for palatal surface area were greater than those for palatal volume. However, even for the former parameter, only the value taken at 30 months was above the threshold. CONCLUSIONS: Growth of the palatal vault was significant during the observation period, which coincides with primary and mixed dentition stages. Palatal surface area appears to be more reliable than palatal volume in assessment of growth modifications in individual subjects.