Distribution of craniofacial variables in south Dalmatian and middle Croatian populations

The objective of the present work was to determine some relevant craniofacial parameters, particularly in relation to sex, for the study of the distribution of basic head and face types, and to investigate craniofacial and morphological differences between two population samples. The study sample comprised 100 subjects of both sex aged 18 to 30 from South Dalmatia and 200 subjects from Middle Croatia. Eight basic craniofacial variables were measured to obtain head, forehead and face indexes. The data indicate that average values of all variables can be used as standard craniofacial parameters for the examined population groups. All the craniofacial variables are considerably higher in men than in women (p < 0.05). In the South Dalmatian population mesocephalia (48.0%) and leptoprosopia (82.0%) prevail, while in the Middle Croatian population the brachycephalia (62.0%), and euriprosopia (73.5%) are present to a greater degree. The most significant craniofacial and morphological differences between the examined study samples are head width (Eu-Eu), face width (Zy-Zy), and forehead height (Tr-N). They were found to be statistically significant in the examined Middle Croatian population (p < 0.05). The presented measurements are highly relevant to orthodontic diagnostics and therapy.