Craniofacial growth: a three-dimensional soft-tissue study from 6 years to adulthood

Normal facial growth and development was analyzed through indirect anthropometry in a mixed longitudinal and cross-sectional investigation; 2023 examinations were performed on 1156 healthy Caucasian children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years of age and on 191 young adults. Three-dimensional coordinates of 22 facial landmarks were collected with the Three-Dimensional Facial Morphometry method by automated infrared photogrammetry. Selected three-dimensional parameters (linear distances, angles, and a ratio), describing facial height, width, depth, and convexity on the horizontal plane, were calculated and averaged for age and sex. Within each age group, most linear distances were significantly larger in males than in females, with some exceptions in the 11 to 12 age group, where female growth velocity showed a spurt. In females of the 14 to 15 age group the face had almost completed growth; in males of the same age group, a large increase was still to occur to attain adult values. The sexual dimorphism of the parameters calculated did not appear in the different parts of the face to the same extent: a large part of male facial preponderance occurred in the lower third of face. From 6 years of age to adulthood, the soft-tissues in the facial lower third increased by about 23% (males) and 17% (females), in the middle third by about 18% (males) and 13% (females), and in the upper third by about 16% (males) and 9% (females). The male vs. female comparisons within each age group suggested a sexual dimorphism in the timing of soft-tissue facial growth, but an overall similar attainment of different adult dimensions.