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Gender-dependent impact of aging on facial proportions

Geschlechtsabhängige Auswirkungen des Alterns auf die Proportionen des Gesichtes

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Journal of Orofacial Orthopedics / Fortschritte der Kieferorthopädie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Facial proportions in younger people have been evaluated in several studies. However, the number of older people who need orthognathic surgery is growing steadily. The aim of this study was to evaluate facial morphology in Caucasians accounting for age and gender.

Methods

Three-dimensional facial scans of 240 healthy volunteers were taken. The subjects were divided into males and females, then into three groups by age (21–35, 36–50 and 51–65 years). Landmarks and artificial planes were placed in the scans. Distances, relations and angles between them and the artificial frontal plane were recorded.

Results

Nearly all distances between the tragion and the landmarks in the middle of the face increased with the age of the volunteers. Therefore, the soft tissue of the face grows horizontally with increasing age. Also, the length of the upper lip increased with age. The percentage of subnasale-stomion and stomion-menton distances of the total subnasale-stomion-menton measurement changed significantly (men: p = 0.149; women: p < 0.001) during aging in females but not in males. The landmarks in the upper and middle third of the face were closer to the frontal plane in women than in men.

Conclusion

Using the created frontal plane for evaluating landmarks in the sagittal plane facilitates measuring positions of soft tissue. There are significant changes in distances, angles and relations during aging which can be very important for planning orthognathic surgery.

Zusammenfassung

Hintergrund

Die Proportionen des Gesichtes bei jüngeren Menschen wurden in mehreren Studien untersucht. Die Zahl der älteren Menschen, die eine Dysgnathieoperation benötigen, wächst zunehmend. Das Ziel dieser Studie war die Beurteilung der Gesichtsmorphologie bei Kaukasiern unter Berücksichtigung von Alter und Geschlecht.

Methoden

Es wurden dreidimensionale Gesichtsscans von 240 gesunden Freiwilligen durchgeführt. Die Probanden wurden in Männer und Frauen eingeteilt, danach in 3 Gruppen (21–35 Jahre, 36–50 und 51–65). Referenzpunkte und erzeugte Ebenen wurden in die Scans eingefügt. Strecken, Verhältnisse und Winkel zwischen diesen und der eingefügten Frontalebene wurden erfasst.

Ergebnisse

Nahezu alle Entfernungen zwischen der Tragion und den Landmarks in der Gesichtsmitte nahmen mit dem Alter der Probanden zu. Folglich wächst das Weichgewebe des Gesichts mit zunehmendem Alter horizontal. Auch die Länge der Oberlippe nahm mit dem Alter zu. Der Prozentsatz der Subnasale-Stomion- und Stomion-Menton-Abstände der Gesamtstrecke Subnasale-Stomion-Menton änderte sich während des Alterungsprozesses bei den weiblichen Probanden signifikant, nicht dagegen bei den männlichen (m: p = 0,149; w: p < 0,001). Die Referenzpunkte im oberen und mittleren Drittel des Gesichtes waren bei Frauen näher an der Frontalebene als bei Männern.

Fazit

Die Verwendung der erstellten Frontalebene zur Auswertung von Referenzpunkten in der sagittalen Ebene erleichtert das Messen von Positionen des Weichgewebes. Während des Alterungsprozesses kommt es zu wesentlichen Änderungen in Strecken, Winkeln und Verhältnissen, die für die Planung der dysgnathiechirurgischer Interventionen sehr wichtig sein könnten.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oral, Maxillofacial and Facial Plastic Surgery, School of Medicine, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Pauwelsstr. 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany

    Ali Modabber M.D., D.M.D., Ph.D., Florian Peters D.M.D., Helmut Galster D.M.D., Kristian Kniha D.M.D., Anna Bock M.D., D.M.D. & Frank Hölzle M.D., D.M.D., Ph.D.

  2. Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany

    Mehrangiz Ghassemi D.M.D. & Stephan Christian Möhlhenrich D.M.D., Ph.D.

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  1. Ali Modabber M.D., D.M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Florian Peters D.M.D.
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Correspondence to Ali Modabber M.D., D.M.D., Ph.D..

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Conflict of interest

A. Modabber, F. Peters, H. Galster, K. Kniha, A. Bock, M. Ghassemi, F. Hölzle and S.C. Möhlhenrich declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.

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Modabber, A., Peters, F., Galster, H. et al. Gender-dependent impact of aging on facial proportions. J Orofac Orthop 80, 165–173 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00056-019-00176-8

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