Evaluation of facial asymmetry in esthetically pleasing faces

Abstract

Aims: The aim of the following study is to assess the extent of facial skeletal symmetry or asymmetry in individuals who had no visible facial asymmetry. Materials and Methods: Posterior-anterior cephalographs of 50 esthetically pleasing faces were taken and traced for the Grummon's facial asymmetry analysis. Parameters such as the horizontal planes, mandibular morphology, mandibular deviation and the transverse asymmetry were measured. To find the difference between different parameters Student's t -test was performed. Results: There existed a significant difference between the mandibular morphology measurements such as condylar-gonion distance, gonion-menton distance and the condylar-menton distance. Moreover the mandible showed the left side deviation. There was highly significant correlation between the zygomatic arch and the measurements like nasal cavity distance, condylar distance and the jugular process distance to the mid-sagittal plane. Conclusion: Skeletal asymmetries are a common finding even in individuals who have normal facial features. Right sided dominance of the mandible was more and there was also tendency for the craniocaudal increase in the rate of the asymmetry.