Cephalometric determination of nasal profile in patients presenting at a tertiary care hospital

Abstract

Introduction: In modern orthodontics, the goals and objectives of treatment planning have evolved from hard to soft tissue paradigm. However, the attractiveness of facial and aesthetic features may vary among different ethnic groups. Many orthodontists carried out different cephalometric analyses to find out nasal profile along with its relation to facial profile. The mean values formulated by different authors may not be proper to serve as references for other racial groups. Therefore, each population should be treated according to specific characteristics of its own. The objective of this study was to determine mean cephalometric values and angles for nasal profile in Pakistani adults.
Material and Methods: 85 subjects including students of Fatima Memorial college of dentistry and out-patient department of Fatima Memorial Hospital were selected. Collected data was entered and analyzed in computer program SPSS version 20. Stratification was done with regard to age and gender to control confounders and “t†test was applied. P-value of 0.05 or less was considered as statistically significant.
Results: Results of the study show that there is no significant sexual dimorphism in nasal profile within Pakistani population. Nasal tip projection and nasolabial angle of Pakistani population is less obtuse whereas columellar rotation, nasofrontal angle and bony nasal angle are more obtuse than Caucasian norms.
Conclusions: Gender specific mean values for nasal profile can be applied in planning and treating orthodontic cases for Pakistani population.