Transverse Growth of Facial Soft Tissues: A Longitudinal Three-Dimensional Facial Growth Study

This longitudinal cohort study aimed to determine the pattern of transverse facial growth from ages 10 to 18 years.

101 individuals (male, n = 56; female, n = 45) were observed. Three-dimensional facial surface images were acquired using stereophotogrammetry every 6 months. The linear distances between various facial structures, focused on the transverse facial features, were measured and plotted over time.

At baseline, sex-related differences in lip and nasal widths were minimal (lip width: 42.5 mm in females vs. 42.4 mm in males; nasal width: 29.3 mm in females vs. 30.6 mm in males). Subsequently, males exhibited greater transverse growth. Nasal width increased by 6.0 mm in males compared with 3.9 mm in females, and lip width increased by 5.1 and 2.1 mm, respectively. A clear divergence in nasal and lip growth patterns between sexes emerged at approximately 12.6 years of age. Intercanthal distance demonstrated a parallel growth trajectory, with males consistently showing larger values. Outer canthal distance increased by 2.3 mm in females and 5.8 mm in males between ages 10 and 17.

Transverse facial growth in females ceased at approximately 14 years of age, whereas growth continued for a longer period in males. Greater growth increments during the male growth spurt, together with prolonged growth duration, resulted in relatively wider nasal and lip dimensions after puberty. The clinical significance of this study lies in demonstrating that analyses of maxillary expansion could be improved by accounting for normal background growth.