The 3-dimensional construction of the average 11-year-old child face: a clinical evaluation and application.
OBJECTIVE
This article describes construction of the average face and its application in the clinical environment.


METHODS
A total of 72 children, mean age 11.8 years, were selected for the study. Laser-scanned images of the subjects were obtained under a reproducible and controlled environment with 2 Minolta Vivid 900 (Minolta, Osaka, Japan) optical laser-scanning devices assembled as a stereo pair. A set of left and right scanned images was taken for each subject and each scan took an average of 2.5 seconds. These scanned images were processed and merged to form a composite 3-dimensional soft tissue reproduction of the subjects using commercially-available reverse modeling software. The differences in facial morphology were measured using shell deviation color maps. The average face was used to compare differences between male and female groups and 3 subjects with craniofacial anomalies.


RESULTS
The difference between the average male and female face was 0.460 +/- 0.353 mm. The areas of greatest deviation were at the zygomatic area and lower jaw line, with the males being more prominent. The results of the surface deviation between the subjects with craniofacial anomalies were significant.


CONCLUSIONS
The construction of the average face provides an interesting perspective into measuring changes in groups of patients and also acts as a useful template for the comparison of craniofacial anomalies.
Kau
Chung How
CH
Dental Health and Biological Sciences, University of Wales, College of Medicine, Cardiff, Wales, UK. kauc@cardiff.ac.uk
Zhurov
Alexei
A
Richmond
Stephen
S
Bibb
Richard
R
Sugar
Adrian
A
Knox
Jeremy
J
Hartles
Frank
F
D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D002648:Child; D019465:Craniofacial Abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005146:Facial Asymmetry / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008445:Maxillofacial Development; D009970:Orthodontics / Q000592:standards*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors