Objective: To evaluate certain facial and dental characteristics by comparing individuals with labial incompetence and individuals withpassive labial sealing. Method: The study analyzed fifty lateral teleradiographs of which 25 were of subjects with labial incompetence, with minimum opening of 4 mm, and 25 of subjects with labial sealing, none of the subjects having undergone orthodontic treatment, all being between 15 and 30 years of age, irrespective of gender and malocclusion, with slight tendency towards vertical growth. The following cephalometric variables were used: Nfp – Nfa with the objective of determining the width of the upper airway, Sn – St to measure the length of the upper lip, Sn –IIs for the vertical length of the maxilla and 1.NA to determine the inclination of the maxillary incisor. Results: The measurements obtained in the group of passive lip sealing (G1) and labial incompetence (G2) respectively, were as follows: 14.12 mm (G1) and 12.76 mm (G2) for width of the upper airway; 24.24 mm (G1) and 23.80 mm (G2) for the length of the upper lip; 26.92 mm (G1) and 28.64 mm (G2) for the vertical length of the maxilla and 26.76º (G1) and 30.76º (G2) for the inclination of themaxillary incisor. Conclusion: The results allowed one to conclude that the individual with labial incompetence presented width of the upper airway similar to that of the individual with passive lip sealing. Individuals with labial incompetence presented increased vertical length of the maxilla and not shortening of the upper lip. The presence of vestibularized maxillary incisors is a condition inherent to the subject with labial incompetence, who will consequently present hypotonicity of the upper lip
