Photography versus lateral cephalogram: role in facial diagnosis

In a developing country like India, where expensive cephalometric apparatus is unavailable everywhere, photography assumes importance for diagnostic and treatment planning procedures as it is low cost and less technique sensitive.

The aim of this study was to compare and correlate craniofacial measurements from cephalometric radiographs with analogous measurements from standardized facial photographs in the Gujarati population.

The study was carried out using standardized cephalometric radiographs and photographs of 60 Gujarati subjects (30 males, 30 females). Eight facial landmarks were identified on both the photograph and cephalogram. Five angular and three linear measurements were created from these landmarks and planes.

The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to estimate the correlations between the photographic and cephalometric variables. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was estimated to measure the reliability of the repeated tracings.

On comparing the cephalometric and photographic variables for the entire sample, positive and significant correlations were found for all the variables studied (r > 0, P < 0.05). The ICCs for all of the angular measurements were higher than those for linear measurements.

Photographs may be used reliably for epidemiological purposes, screening, initial consultations and cases where irradiation is contraindicated or needs to be avoided.