A Cephalometric Assessment Of The Dentoskeletal Relationship Of The Anterior Cranial Base And Mandibular Body Length In The North American Negro And Caucasian Child With A Class Ii Division I Malocclusion PDF Download

The aims of this study were to investigate the dimensional relationships between the cranial base, body height, and the facial complex and to establish a method of size adjusting linear measurements when comparing groups with overall size differences. Data were obtained from lateral cephalometric radiographs, tracings, and history profiles of 117 orthodontically untreated males (ages 12 and 18+) from the University of Toronto's Burlington Growth Study. The total cranial base length (either N-Ba or {S-N + S-Ba}) and body height displayed the strongest correlations to the linear facial dimensions. At age 12, strong correlations (r >= 0.4) existed between {S-N + S-Ba} and mandibular length, upper face height, and body height. N-Ba strongly correlated to maxillary length. At age 18+, the correlations to mandibular length and upper face height weakened. Body height correlated strongly to mandibular length and upper face height at both ages. Independent t-tests demonstrated that children who were short, or who had small total cranial base lengths exhibited smaller linear facial dimensions than children who were taller or had longer total cranial base lengths; thereby validating the need for linear size adjusting among diverse populations. Equations were generated that predicted the adjusted linear facial dimensions based on known total cranial base length and body height. The evidence suggested that size adjusting was statistically valid when studying populations that differed in overall body, cranial base, and face size, where comparisons of absolute measurements would otherwise be invalid. This is especially important when comparing groups with craniofacial anomalies.