Soft tissue thickness values for black and coloured South African children aged 6-13 years

In children, craniofacial changes due to facial growth complicate facial approximations and require specific knowledge of soft tissue thicknesses (STT). The lack of South African juvenile STT standards of particular age groups, sex and ancestry is problematic. According to forensic artists in the South African Police Service the use of African-American values to reconstruct faces of Black South African children yields poor results. In order to perform a facial approximation that presents a true reflection of the child in question, information regarding differences in facial soft tissue at different ages, sexes and ancestry groups is needed. The aims of this study were to provide data on STT of South African Black and Coloured children and to assess differences in STT with respect to age, sex and ancestry. STT was measured using cephalograms of South African children (n=388), aged 6-13 years. After digitizing the images, STT measurements were taken at ten mid-facial landmarks from each image using the iTEM measuring program. STT comparisons between groups per age, sex and ancestry were statistically analyzed. The results showed that STT differences at lower face landmarks are more pronounced in age groups per ancestry as opposed to differences per age and sex. Generally, an increase in STT was seen between 6-10 year old groups and 11-13 year old groups, regardless of ancestry and sex, at the midphiltrum, labiale inferius, pogonion, and beneath chin landmarks. This research created a reference dataset for STT of South African children of Black and Coloured ancestry per age and sex that will be useful for facial reconstruction/approximation of juvenile remains.