comparison of cephalometric standards of Iranian and American Caucasian Adolescents

Since morphologic features of different races and ethnic groups are different, knowledge of the normal dentofacial patterns of each ethnic group is important, therefore the purpose of this study was to develop cephalometric standards for the Iranian boys and girls (12 and 17 years old) and compare them to a sample of American Caucasian adolescents. Method and Materials: The subjects in this study included 65 females and 63 males. All subjects were Iranian with class I canine and molar relationship and none had undergone orthodontic therapy, all of them had cephalograms in centric occlusion and analyzed according to the cephalometric analysis of McNamara, Wits and Rakosi. Comparison between the dentofacial parameters of two groups performed using student’s t - test. Significant differences between Iranian and Caucasian were present in male and female groups in both ages. Comparison between the Iranian and Caucasian indicated that Iranian 12 years old boys have a tendency toward maxillary protrusion, vertical growth tendency and a procumbent lower incisors as compared with Caucasian boys. The same results were found for 12 years old girls. Iranian 17 years old boys and girls showed a retrognathic maxilla and mandible and more vertical growth when compared with the Caucasians standards. In male 17 years old group there were no differences between the Iranian and Caucasians in dental measurements but in female 17 years old group Iranian girls had more procumbent lower incisors in comparison with 17 year old Caucasian girls.