title: Morphological differences of facial soft tissue contours from child to adult of Japanese males: a three-dimensional cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate morphological differences of the facial soft tissue surface between male Japanese adults and children.
  
  
  METHODS
  20 adult Japanese males (average age 28 years) and 20 Japanese boys (average age 5.5 years) with normal occlusion were selected for this study. The images of the subjects' facial surface were obtained with a 3-D laser scanner. To evaluate the three-dimensional morphological differences of the facial soft tissue, we transformed the coordinates of 16 facial landmarks to a new reference plane and compared the adults' and children's facial form drawn to the same scale in the same coordinate system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The morphological difference ratio of the lower facial area was higher than in the upper facial area, and the nose and lower face changed more forward than downward. The morphological difference ratio of the mid face width was smaller than other areas.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that the morphological facial soft tissue differences between Japanese adults and children are more forward and downward than laterally, manifesting in a facial form of adults that is deeper and narrow.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Daisuke
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan. Electronic address: inada@dent.kagoshima-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Inada
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Dentistry, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Science, Niigata University, 2-5274 Gakkocho-dori, Chuo-ku, Niigata 951-8514, Japan.
authors.forename: Issei
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Saitoh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takemoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morizono
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.affiliation: Oku Pediatric and Orthodontic Dental Clinic, 5-4-27 Tagami, Kagoshima 890-0034, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oku
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007564:Japan; D007834:Lasers; D008297:Male; D008445:Maxillofacial Development
keywords: Children; Facial soft tissue; Optoelectronic system; Three-dimensional