Soft tissue cephalometric norms in emirati population: A cross-sectional study

Introduction: The current study is the first to present the cephalometric norms in Emirati adults and aimed to investigate the differences in the angular and linear soft tissue cephalo-metric measures between male and female Emirati adults. Methods: A group of 176 individuals (91 males and 85 females) with normal occlusion, proportional facial profiles were chosen, and lateral cephalograms were obtained. Standard values of 16 soft-tissue measurements were determined. Descriptive statistics were first carried out for each parameter. The Student’s t-test was then performed to determine significant differences between male and female measurement means. Significant differences were determined at the 95% probability level. Results: Soft tissue measurements showed that men had a greater soft tissue profile and H-angle than women. A significant difference between the genders was observed for all linear soft tissue measurements except for the lower lip to E-plane, N’-Sn’ and Sn’-Stomion/Sn-Me ratio mea-surements. The lengths and thicknesses of the upper and lower lips independently, protrusion of both upper and lower lips, Sn’-Me’ (mm) and N’-Sn’/Sn’-Me’ (%) were found to be significantly different (p < 0.001) and so were the upper lip to E-plane (mm) and the soft tissue thickness of the chin measurements (p < 0.05). Except for upper and lower lip protrusion dimensions and the N’-Sn’/Sn’-Me’ (%), men presented with greater linear measurements. Conclusion: The differences in soft-tissue cephalometric norms between men and women were established, suggesting that the orthodontist must individualize therapy using local norms as the reference.