Soft Tissue Profile Analysis Among Shan Dong Province Adolescents With Normal Occlusions And Well-Balanced Faces

Objective: The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between differentbone-age stages, describe the changes in eleven soft tissue parameters with Holdawayanalysis that are commonly used by orthodontic practitioners in their diagnosis andtreatment planning as well as in their evaluationof profile changes that occur withgrowth and orthodontic treatment.Methods:The subjects in this study were 85males and 87 females for whom lateralcephalograms were available between 8 and 16 years of age. Divided them into 4stages according to the bone age: acceleration stage,transition stage,decelerationstage and maturity stage. 11 measurements were measured on each radiograph, Thelandmarks were identified according to the Holdaway analysis.Results:1)Divided the research objecets into groups with cervical vetebrae skeletal age,andgot the range of the skeletal age value correspond to every bone-age group.2)Got the normal value and standard deviation of measuring items of Holdawayanalytical method in different gender and every bone-age group.3)Discrepancy between male and famale and difference among bone-age groups werefound in the process of growth and development of juvenil and children with normalocclusion in Shandong.Discussion:The analysis of variance was used to compare the absolute and incremental changes both longitudinally and cross-sectionally. Significance waspredetermined at P<0 .05. Male-Female Difference:The present findings indicated thatin general,the changes in the absolute measurements in males and females wereessentially similar in direction and magnitude. While,the upper lip in males wasthicker than in females.And the nasal point was more anterior in male than in female.A significant part of the soft tissue profile changes in most parameters occurred earlierin females than in males.Changes in the Soft Tissue Profile with Age: the thickness of upper lip was increasewith the groth,and the region of chin was anterior with the groth.The present findings indicated that in general, the changes in males and females weresimilar in both magnitude and direction. On the other hand, the timing of the greatestchanges in the soft tissue profile occurred earlier in females than in males.It is important for clinicians to be aware of the progressive changes in the soft tissueprofile when planning the orthodontic treatment of adolescent patients because thesechanges might influence the treatment plan including the extraction-cnonextractiondecision in some borderline crowded cases.