Three-dimensional facial morphometry of attractive children and normal children in the deciduous and early mixed dentition.
OBJECTIVE
To identify possible esthetic canons in facial size and shape of Italian children.


METHODS
The three-dimensional coordinates of 50 facial landmarks (forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, jaw, ears) were collected in 220 healthy reference children (4-9 years old) and in 89 "attractive" children of a similar age group selected by a commercial casting organization. Soft-tissue facial angles, distances, and volumes were computed. Comparisons were made with the Student's t-test.


RESULTS
Attractive children had a larger face than the reference children, with a larger maxilla and forehead; overall, their faces were wider and deeper, but less vertically developed. Lips were more voluminous in attractive children, with a higher mouth. The nose was larger in attractive children than in reference children. The soft-tissue facial profile was more convex in attractive children, with a more prominent maxilla relative to the mandible.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, considering that in the analyzed ages body growth and dental changes are very fast and individually determined, all the measurements appeared sufficiently homogenous, and the quantitative characteristics of an "attractive" face well defined. Esthetic reference values can be used to determine optimal timing and goals in orthodontic treatment.
Sforza
Chiarella
C
Functional Anatomy Research Center, Department of Human Morphology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy. chiarella.sforza@unimi.it
Laino
Alberto
A
D'Alessio
Raoul
R
Dellavia
Claudia
C
Grandi
Gaia
G
Ferrario
Virgilio Ferruccio
VF
D001504:Beauty; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003818:Dentition, Mixed; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male