Characteristics of a Harmonious Profile in Vietnamese Adults

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the characteristics of a harmonious profile in Vietnamese adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 62 lateral headfilms of 30 males and 32 females aged between 18 to 25 years old who were justified by 10 orthodontists independently as having a harmonious appearance. Lateral headflims were taken with natural head position, with the teeth in maximal intercuspation and lips at rest position. Cephalometric tracings were scanned with a 1:1 ratio into AutoCAD 2010 to determine landmarks and measurements. There were 16 landmarks and 23 parameters regarding measurements of forehead, nose, lips and chin. Independent sample T test and Pearson correlation were applied. Results: All measurements were greater in male than female but the statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was only found in the parameters regarding “nose” : the prominence at the root of the nose (male: 17.78 mm ± 3.31; female: 15.99 mm ± 1.78) and the tip of the nose ( 31.8 mm ± 3.02; 28.69 mm ± 2.3), nasal concavity ( 6.7 mm ± 1.12 ;  6 mm ± 0.91) and nasal length ( 57.77 mm ± 3.36 ; 53.5 mm ± 3.25). However, there was no significant difference of facial proportions in vertical dimension between two gender (p>0.05). Strong correlations between measurements were found either horizontally or vertically (p<0,01), especially between upper lip height and lower lip - chin height (r = 0.92), the prominence of the upper and lower lip (r=0.84) as well as the prominence at the root and tip of the nose (r=0.87). Conclusions: Male had higher and longer nose than female, however the harmonious facial proportions were constant. This study helped define the average measurements of facial harmony among Vietnamese adults thus contributed to the international archive of researches on soft facial tissue morphology.