RESUMO
In the past few decades, the availability of much improved endocrine assay techniques has focused attention upon hormones as major determinants of human growth and development. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the direct effect of Growth Hormone Deficiency [GHD] on the rate of dental development that might indirectly affect the classical orthodontic treatment timing standards. Additionally, the magnitude of any possible differential effect of this endocrinopathy on the somatic and dental systems development has to be searched. The sample consisted of 87 patients suffering of isolated GHD aged 4-16 years with a comparable control group of normally growing Iraqi subjects. The results declared a highly significant retardation in the rate of dental development of the GHD patients, with a total mean delay of 1.5 years. The dental age delay of the youngest GHD children [4- 5 years] was minimal [tilde 0.6 years], meanwhile the maximal delay [tilde 1.8 years] was recorded about the pre-pubertal growth phase [9-12 years]. At the same time, there was an obvious differential effect of GHD on the height age and dental age, in which a greater retardation was always imposed on the somatic maturity indicator compared to the dental one, a finding that might be attributed to the different developmental patterns and embryonic origins of teeth and bones