Objectives: To identify possible esthetic canons in facial size and shape of Italian children. Materials and 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.

Objectives: To identify possible esthetic canons in facial size and shape of Italian adolescent boys and girls. Materials and Methods: The three-dimensional coordinates of 50 facial landmarks (forehead, eyes, nose, cheeks, mouth, jaw, ears) were collected in 231 healthy, reference adolescents (10-17 years old) and in 93 similar age group ''attractive'' adolescents selected by a commercial casting organization. Soft-tissue facial angles, distances, areas, and volumes were computed. Comparisons were made with analysis of variance. Results: Attractive adolescents had wider, shorter, and less deep faces than reference adolescents, with a relatively larger forehead and maxilla, and a reduced mandible relative to the maxilla. Lips were larger and more prominent, and the nasolabial angle was reduced, but in older boys the effect was reversed. The prominence of the soft-tissue profile, and of the maxilla relative to the mandible, were larger in attractive boys, but smaller in attractive girls than in their reference peers. In the horizontal plane, attractive ''young'' adolescents had a flatter face, while the opposite pattern was observed in the ''old'' adolescents, with a relatively more prominent chin. Attractive adolescents had smaller noses than reference subjects of the same age and sex. Conclusions: Overall, 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.

Objective: To compare the facial characteristics of two different groups of attractive women with those of reference women. Materials and Methods: The three-dimensional coordinates of 50 facial landmarks were collected in 71 healthy reference women (18-30 years old) and in 24 coetaneous ''attractive'' women selected during two different beauty competitions; soft tissue facial angles, distances, areas, and volumes were computed and compared using analysis of variance. Results: When compared with reference women, both groups of attractive women shared several similar facial characteristics: relatively large forehead (P Ͻ .001), reduced mandible (P ϭ .008), and rounded face (reduced surface-to-volume ratio, P ϭ .002). They had a more acute soft tissue profile, an increased upper facial width (P Ͻ .001) and middle facial depth, larger mouth, and more voluminous lips (P ϭ .005) than reference women. Conclusions: Both groups of attractive women had several facial characteristics suggesting babyness. Nonetheless, each group of women was characterized by a different development of these features. Esthetic reference values can be a useful tool for clinicians, but should always consider the characteristics of individual faces. (Angle Orthod. 2009;79:17-23.)

No abstract

BackgroundThe objective of this study is to define an acquisition protocol that is clear, precise, repeatable, simple, fast and that is useful for analysis of the anthropometric characteristics of the soft tissue of the face.MethodsThe analysis was carried out according to a new clinical-instrumental protocol that comprises four distinct phases: (1) setup of portable equipment in the space in which field analysis will be performed, (2) preparation of the subject and spatial positioning, (3) scanning of the subject with different facial expressions, and (4) treatment and processing of data. The protocol was tested on a sample comprising 66 female subjects (64 Caucasian, 1 Ethiopian, and 1 Brazilian) who were the finalists of an Italian national beauty contest in 2010. To illustrate the potential of the method, we report here the measurements and full analysis that were carried out on the facial model of one of the subjects who was scanned.ResultsThis new protocol for the acquisition of faces is shown to be fast (phase 1, about 1 h; phase 2, about 1.5 min; phase 3, about 1.5 min; phase 4, about 15 min), simple (phases 1 to 3 requiring a short operator training period; only phase 4 requires expert operators), repeatable (with direct palpation of anatomical landmarks and marking of their positions on the face, the problem of identification of these same landmarks on the digital model is solved), reliable and precise (average precision of measurements, 0.5 to 0.6 mm over the entire surface of the face).ConclusionsThis standardization allows the mapping of the subjects to be carried out following the same conditions in a reliable and fast process for all of the subjects scanned.