The ideal aesthetic nasal dorsum in the Saudi population

To investigate and define the ideal aesthetic nasal dorsum measurement in the Saudi population.

This observational study was conducted from January to December 2012 at the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A total of 127 raters, 56 males and 71 females were asked to choose the most ideal profile view from one male and one female photograph, whose nasolabial angle were fixed at 90 degrees for the male, and 95 degrees for the female, and whose level of dorsum was modified with a Photoshop program into 5 variables in relation to a line drawn from the radix to the tip-defining points (anterior of more than 2 mm anterior within 2 mm, at the level of the line, posterior within 2 mm, and posterior of more than 2 mm).

Male raters preferred the dorsal level slightly posterior within 2 mm (57.1%) for the male photograph, and a straight dorsum (58.9%) for the female photograph. For female raters, the slightly concave profile of less than 2 mm was the most preferred (71.8%) in males, while for females they gave an equal score for either straight dorsum or posteriorly within 2 mm (47.9%).

The findings in this study conclude that males preferred a male of a slight deep dorsum, and a female of a straight profile line. Females preferred the male of slight deep dorsum and a female of a straight profile, or slight concavity.