Holdaway measurement norms in Turkish adults

The aims of this study were to establish the cephalometric norms for Turkish adults by means of the Holdaway analysis and to investigate the cephalometric differences between Turkish women and men.

The study materials consisted of 100 cephalometric head films taken at the natural head position. The 50 men and 50 women who volunteered for the study had to be older than 18 years and had to have parents of Turkish origin, acceptable facial structure, ideal dental occlusion, no visual or hearing disorders, and all the teeth present in their mouths except the third molar teeth. The selected subjects had not undergone orthodontic treatment or orthognathic surgery, had no burns, injuries, or scar tissue in the head and neck regions, and had no breathing or swallowing disorder. The measurements of hard and soft tissues were carried out on lateral cephalometric radiographs taken at natural head position. The measurements were evaluated with a computer software program. The effects of sex on the measurements were investigated by means of Student's t test.

The differences between men and women in nose prominence, basic upper lip thickness, upper lip thickness, inferior sulcus to the H line, and soft tissue chin thickness were statistically significant.

The upper lip, nose, and chin are more protruded in men than they are in women.