D. Hall et al., The perception of optimal profile in African Americans versus white Americans as assessed by orthodontists and the lay public, AM J ORTHOD, 118(5), 2000, pp. 514-525
Citations number
45
Categorie Soggetti
Dentistry/Oral Surgery & Medicine
Journal title
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ORTHODONTICS AND DENTOFACIAL ORTHOPEDICS
This study was designed to assess the perceived optimal profiles of African
Americans versus white Americans. A survey was conducted using profile sil
houettes of 30 African American and 30 white patients, ranging in age from
7 to 17 years. Twenty white orthodontists, 18 African American orthodontist
s, 20 white laypersons, and 20 African American laypersons evaluated the pr
ofiles. The preference of each rater for each of the 60 profiles was scored
on an attached visual analog scale. Eighteen cephalometric variables were
measured for each profile, and statistical analyses were performed on the p
rofiles that had a mean rating of 60 or greater from an analog scale of 0 t
o 100. The results show the following 6 cephalometric variables were signif
icant: Z-angle, skeletal convexity at A-point, upper lip prominence, lower
lip prominence, nasomental angle, and mentolabial sulcus. All raters prefer
red the African American sample to have a greater profile convexity than th
ey preferred for the white sample. The raters preferred the African America
n sample with upper and lower lips that were more prominent compared with t
he white sample. However, only the choice of the African American orthodont
ists for the African American sample was significantly different for this p
arameter. The white orthodontists gave the highest mean scores for the prof
ile chosen, whereas the African American laypersons gave the lowest scores.