Anteroposterior relationship of maxillary central incisor to forehead: A photographic study

Abstract

BackgroundEvaluating the face in profile is an integral part of a complete orthodontic diagnosis. The addition of a lateral smiling profile photograph in addition to frontal smiling one is necessary to enable judgment of the distance from the facial axis (FA) point of the maxillary central incisor to that of the forehead. The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the anteroposterior relationship of maxillary central incisors to the forehead in adult women having good facial harmony (control sample) with those seeking orthodontic treatment (study sample) in the North Indian population. MethodsFifty printed facial photographic images of adult women (18–25 years of age) with optimum facial balance and those seeking orthodontic treatment were obtained. All smiling profile images had the maxillary central incisors and the forehead in full view. Reference lines were drawn to measure the anteroposterior positions of the maxillary central incisors as well as forehead inclinations. ResultsThe most esthetic position of maxillary central incisor, somewhere at or between forehead facial axis (FFA) and glabella, was observed in 82% of the control sample, whereas only 14% of study subjects exhibited it. Most of the study group subjects (58%) showed posteriorly positioned maxillary central incisors to the FFA point. ConclusionsTreatment goals for adult women should include the maxillary central incisor position to be somewhere at or between the FFA point and glabella and correlated with forehead inclination.