Methods: The longitudinal study was conducted on 39 Vietnamese children (19 males, 20 females) who had lateral cephalograms taken in 10, 12 and 14 years of age. The lateral cephalometric tracings and superimposings were performed by using Ricketts’ method by a trained dentist. 12 angle measurements and 13 linear ones were recorded each stage of the study. One way ANOVA and Repeated ANOVA measures with Bonfferroni test were applied.
Results: The results showed that the growth changes of craniofacial complex from 10 to 12 years of age were more than from 12 to 14 years. From 10 to 14 years, the mean of facial axis was 84° and 86°; the facial angle significantly increased 2.13° and 2.67°, the mandibular plane angle significantly reduced 2.92° and 4.1°, the mandibular arch significantly increased 2.74° and 3° in male and female respectively. However, there were no statistically significant changes in the Ba-N-A angle and the facial convexity in the period of this age. The anterior cranial length increased 5.25 mm and 3.89 mm, the posterior facial height increased 8.95 mm and 7.85 mm and the corpus length increased 7.41 mm and 6.05 mm in male and female respectively.
Conclusions: There were significant changes in almost of craniofacial measurements from 10 to 14 year-old children in Vietnam by using Ricketts analysis. However, the facial axis, the cranial base angle (N-S-Ba) and the facial convexity were relatively stable during 10 to 14 years of age.