Anthropometric orofacial measurements of children from Sao Paulo and from North America: comparative study.
BACKGROUND
Anthropometric orofacial measurements of children from Sao Paulo and from North America.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the anthropometric orofacial measurements of children from Sao Paulo and to compare the obtained means to the North American norms.


METHODS
Participants were 254 children, leukoderm, in mixed dentition period, with ages ranging from 7 to 11 years and 11 months, with no history of speech, language and hearing disorders or treatment. The investigated anthropometric orofacial measurements were the height of the upper lip, the height of lower lip, the length of the philtrum and the height of lower face. In order to obtain these measurements, an electronic digital sliding caliper Starrett Series 727 was used.


RESULTS
The obtained data for the height of the upper lip, the height of the lower lip and the height of the lower face are below the means described for North American children. When considering the length of the philtrum, similar results were found between the research sample and North American children.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of the measurements of the present sample referring to the height of the upper lip, the height of the lower lip and height of the lower face are below the values reported for North American children. The North American norms are not valid for the children of our population, except for the length of the philtrum.
Centro de Especialização, Cefac. dmcattoni@uol.com.br
Débora Martins
DM
Cattoni
Fernanda Dreux Miranda
FD
Fernandes
D001938:Brazil; D002508:Cephalometry; D002648:Child; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009656:North America; D012015:Reference Standards; D012727:Sex Characteristics