Purpose statement:

The facial contour changes from birth to skeletal maturity with the growth and development of the facial skeleton. These changes have been well described by conventional cephalometric analysis. However, cephalometric evaluation relies on a metric type analysis of linear measurements and angles, and inadequately captures the ‘shape' of the facial contours. It is the curvature of the face and not linear measurements that the eye perceives when assessing aesthetic balance. A method for quantitative analysis of facial soft tissue profile curves has been developed and this paper will present an application of the technique toward changes that occur with facial growth.

Methods and materials:

Cephalometric records were obtained from ages 1 to 18 and averaged based on Bolton standards. A Microscribe digitizer was used to create digitized soft tissue facial profiles at each age from trichion to menton. A Fourier analysis was used to quantify the curved shapes of the profiles. Fourier series coefficients were determined for each age.

Results:

The Fourier series developed a pattern to describe normal average growth based on soft tissue profiles. The study resulted in a table of harmonic coefficients as a baseline for comparison of the facial curvature of any given patient to an averaged norm.

Conclusions:

This technique provides a novel approach to describing the shape of the facial profile that more accurately reflects the complex curves of the face than linear and angular measurements of conventional soft tissue cephalometric schemes. Applied to the changes that occur from birth to skeletal maturity, individual patients can be compared to the accepted age matched norm as an index of the deformity. The analysis can be used to further compare the outcome of surgical intervention.