Age and sex-related variations in facial soft tissue thickness in a sample of Pakistani children

A facial soft tissue thickness (FST) database forms the backbone of different facial reconstruction methods. Various studies have identified age, sex and ethnicity as the core factors affecting the FST of an individual. The aims of this study were to explore the changes in FST occurring during the adolescent growth period and to develop the FST database for Pakistani children. The lateral cephalograms of 231 children, aged 9–18 years, were analysed and FST was determined at the 11 midline points. Subjects were divided into five age groups (9–10, 11–12, 13–14, 15–16 and 17–18 years) to evaluate age-related variations in FST. To compare FST between males and females and among different age groups, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used. Moreover, the FST of Pakistani children was compared with those of Japanese and Canadian-Caucasoid children. Significant age-related variations in FST were present at four landmarks in boys and at six landmarks in girls. Marked ethnic differences in FST (>2 mm) were also observed at five landmarks in some of the age groups. These age-related and ethnic variations in FST warrant the use of data of appropriate age groups for a specific population for reliable outcome of facial reconstruction.