Comparison of cephalometric norms of esthetically pleasing faces

OBJECTIVE: To establish cephalometric norms of a sample of aesthetically pleasing Pakistani faces and to analyze differences and similarities with accepted standards for Caucasians. STUDY DESIGN: Analytical cross sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Carried out at Alvi Dental Hospital, Karachi, from August 2007 to February 2008. METHODOLOGY: Cephalometric tracings were analyzed on a sample of 40 (20 males and 20 females) Pakistani young adults, aged 18-25 years, with full complement of permanent teeth, no previous orthodontic treatment and pleasing profile. To check the reliability of the measurements, 20 randomly selected cephalograms were retraced. None of the measurements showed a significant difference. Student\u27s \u27t\u27 test was applied for overall group comparisons. P-value of \u3c 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: When compared with some classical standards, the results suggest that the Pakistani sample had greater cranial lengths (p \u3c 0.001), shorter faces anteriorly (p \u3c 0.001), and tended towards bimaxillary dental protrusion with more prominent chin (p \u3c 0.001). Males had greater antero-posterior, horizontal and vertical measurements (p \u3c 0.001). Females showed more dental protrusion (p \u3c 0.01). CONCLUSION: Comparisons revealed statistically significant differences in most variables between Pakistanis and Caucasians and between Pakistani males and females. Pakistanis have distinct cephalometric features, which should be used as a reference in treating Pakistani orthodontic and orthognathic surgery patients

Improvement in peer assessment rating scores after nonextraction, premolar extraction, and mandibular incisor extraction treatments in patients with class i malocclusion.

Abstract INTRODUCTION: Different treatment protocols implemented for correction of Class I malocclusion aim at achieving ideal occlusal characteristics. This study was planned to evaluate the improvement in the occlusal characteristics of Class I patients treated with nonextraction (NE), all first premolar extractions (PME), and mandibular incisor extraction (MIE) as assessed by the percentage of improvement in Peer Assessment Rating (PAR) scores. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on the pretreatment and posttreatment dental casts of 108 subjects with Class I malocclusion. The total sample was divided into 3 equal groups according to the treatment protocol implemented: NE, PME, and MIE. The mean pretreatment and posttreatment PAR scores, and the percentages of improvement were compared among the 3 treatment modalities using Kruskal-Wallis and post-hoc Dunnett T3 tests. RESULTS: The mean percentages of improvement in the PAR score were 75.8% ± 25.8% in the NE group, 73.1% ± 19.4% in the PME group, and 70.6% ± 24.1% in the MIE group. There was no significant difference (P = 0.351) in the percentages of improvement in PAR scores among the 3 treatment modalities. However, the mean pretreatment and posttreatment PAR scores varied significantly (P \u3c0.001) in the 3 groups. The average pretreatment and posttreatment PAR scores were highest in the MIE group and lowest in the NE group. CONCLUSIONS: The comparable percentages of improvement in PAR scores among the 3 groups denote that equivalent occlusal corrections were achieved in Class I patients treated with the NE, PME, and MIE protocols