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.