Cephalometric norms for the north Indian population: A systematic review

The cephalometric norms for orthognathic surgery (COGS analysis) are the standard benchmark in cephalometrics for any orthognathic surgical diagnosis and treatment planning. Since the introduction of cephalometrics by Broadbent, numerous studies have been conducted to establish craniofacial norms of different ethnicities. Most of these studies, however, determined craniofacial norms for Caucasian people and may not be applicable to other ethnic groups due to differences in their facial appearance. Therefore, it is essential to study and compare the existing cephalometric parameters between Caucasians and Indians to validate their application during the treatment planning of the orthognathic surgery. This review focuses on studying the cephalometric norms for the North Indian (NI) population and establishing the COGS analysis for the population of North India. The objective is to determine the cephalometric parameters of Angle's dental and skeletal Class I faces for the NI population. The following databases were searched for the present study -PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, and EMBASE. The initial inclusion criteria comprised studies written in English and quoting cephalometric norms in Indian population. The time period of publications was not determined. The quality features evaluated were sample description, variables analyzed, and how cephalometric standards were evaluated. Initially, 49 articles were retrieved. After removal of the duplicated records and assessing for the eligibility, four articles met the inclusion criteria. These four articles were included in the systematic review. The NI people are characterized by having small cranial base, short facial height, protrusive chin, and more inclination of mandibular incisors in comparison with Caucasians. Due to limited research on the Central Indian cephalometric norms, the Caucasian norms are still referred for the diagnosis and treatment planning of orthognathic surgery for NI population.