Cephalic index, facial index and dental parameters: A correlative study to evaluate their significance in facial reconstruction

Abstract

Background: It becomes extremely challenging for forensic artists to reconstruct the highly decomposed faces, especially during mass disasters. It would be of great help for the identifying team of experts if there was a method to determine the facial and cephalic dimensions. This study aims to provide a method to generate a simplified method to calculate the facial and cephalic indices of an individual based on the dentition since human dentition remains almost intact in most scenarios. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 200 participants with the age range of 18–23 years belonging to Kerala. The cephalic and facial indices were measured using a caliper. The interincisal, intercanine, interpremolar and intermolar widths of maxillary dentition were measured on study models using a digital vernier caliper. The mean cranial and facial index were calculated and were correlated with interdental measurements. Results: It was concluded that dominant head types in Kerala males were dolichocephalic (50.2%) followed by mesocephalic (29.8%). In females, the dominant head types were dolichocephalic (42.7%) followed by mesocephalic (42.2%). In the facial types, majority of individuals were found to be leptoprosopic. A good correlation was found between the intercanine width with facial width and cranial width and a simplified formula were derived to estimate the cranial and facial index for this population. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that the facial index and cranial index of a particular population can be evaluated from interdental measurements of the maxillary cast, especially the intercanine width.

Anatomical Characteristics, Relations, and Clinical Considerations of the Facial Index and Cephalic Index in Young Chileans Aged Between 18 and 21 Years

“…Regarding other studies, which analysed anthropometric characteristics in the facial and cranial area, our study differs from others mainly because the facial and cephalic characteristics were analysed individually to demonstrate the existence of a relation between both variables. In addition, sample variation can be directly associated to miscegenation between native people and colonists during the 18th century, which differs from the following studies: Khatun's study showed that the prevailing characteristic was dolichocephalic (Khatun, 2018); in the study of Muralidhar et al (2021), dolichocephalic was the prevailing FI characteristic, and Koizumi et al (2010) showed that brachycephalic was the prevailing characteristic of its population. It should be noted that all these studies had samples of Japanese or pure indigenous ancestry.…”

“…It should be noted that all these studies had samples of Japanese or pure indigenous ancestry. In the study of Muralidhar et al (2021), leptoprosopic was the prevailing characteristic for FI. In del Sol (2006) study, concluded that the total mean FI had mesoprosopic characteristics with a tendency towards euryprosopic.…”

Analysis of craniofacial indices of dry crania in Southeast and Southsouth Nigeria

“…To a large extent, frontal and facial indices are necessary considerations in aesthetics and reconstructive facial surgeries [20,25]. Although the concept of beauty may appear subjective, it is enshrined on some anatomical basis [26].…”

Cross Sectional Analysis of Eurasian Skull Anatomy for 3D Cephalometry—Normative Data Reveal Four Different Skull Types

“…The significance of this classification has long been questioned. In a study by Muralidhar et al [ 35 ], correlations between the cephalic index, the facial index and the interincisal distance were found. In this respect, a correlation between the cephalic index and our clusters could be investigated in a further study.…”