Three-dimensional facial morphometry of attractive adolescent boys and girls

To identify reference standards and possible esthetic features of facial size and form of Italian adolescent boys and girls.

A three-dimensional electromagnetic digitizer was used to collect the coordinates of 50 facial landmarks (forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, jaw, ears) in 231 healthy, reference adolescents (10-17 years old) and in 93 "attractive" adolescents selected by a commercial casting; soft tissue facial angles, distances and volumes were computed.

Attractive adolescents had wider and shorter faces than reference subjects of the same age and sex, with relatively larger upper and middle facial thirds, and a reduced mandible relative to the maxilla. Lips were larger and more prominent, and the nasolabial angle was reduced, but in older boys the effect was reversed. The prominence of the soft-tissue profile, and of the maxilla relative to the mandible, were larger in attractive boys, but smaller in attractive girls than in their reference peers. Attractive adolescents had a relatively less prominent chin relative to the lower lip, with increased values of the mentolabial angle. In the horizontal plane, attractive "young" adolescents had a more obtuse mandibular convexity angle, while the opposite pattern was observed in the "old" adolescent subjects, with a relatively more prominent chin. Attractive adolescents had smaller noses than reference subjects of the same age and sex.

Esthetic reference values have been identified which could be used to determine optimal timing and goals in orthodontic treatment.