Metabolomic analysis of gingival crevicular fluid for dental age and skeletal maturity assessment in growing individuals.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the metabolic profile of growing patients for potential identification of biomarkers related to dental skeletal development. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gingival crevicular fluid samples from 54 young patients were collected and further analyzed by an untargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method. For the estimation of dental development, the Demirjian method was used, and for the skeletal maturation level, the cervical vertebrae maturation method was applied. Multivariate and univariate analyses were performed to examine possible metabolomic variations according to the chronological, dental, and skeletal age. Group differences were evaluated using Kruskal-Wallis tests, with Bonferroni correction applied to account for multiple comparisons. Spearman's ρ correlation coefficient was used to examine variable correlations. Metabolite expression variations were visualized using boxplots. RESULTS: In total, 63 compounds were retrieved with metabolomic analysis. The results showed that cadaverine and L-valine uniquely displayed robust dental age-related variation, demonstrating significant elevations during tooth development and decrease in the late stages of the dentition. Malonic acid and nonanoic acid decrease with advanced dental age. Regarding bone growth, cadaverine, L-serine, and L-homoserine have been identified as strong indicators of skeletal maturation. CONCLUSIONS: Several distinct metabolites showed coherent associations with skeletal and dental maturation. Additional studies employing complementary analytical methods and broader metabolome profiling are necessary to validate their association with tooth and bone growth pathways. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The adjunct use of metabolomics in dentistry and orthodontics may lead to more precise diagnosis and personalized healthcare.