Advisory Committee Chair
Chung How Kau
Advisory Committee Members
Amjad Javed
Nada Souccar
Christos Vlachos
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2014
Degree Name by School
Master of Dentistry (MDent) School of Dentistry
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to compare the facial morphology of African-American children to Welsh children using three-dimensional imaging. Materials and Methods: Three-dimensional images were captured using a stereo-photogrammatic camera system (3dMDfaceTM). 107 African-American children were imaged with the 3dMDfaceTM system and were compared with 64 Welsh children which were previously imaged using two Minolta Vivid VI900 3D laser scanners arranged in a stereo pair. The subjects were between 10 and 13 years old, presented with a normal BMI, and had no major craniofacial deformity. The images were aligned, combined and averaged using Rapidform 2006 Plus Pack 2 software producing a single average shell for four subgroups (Welsh male and female and African-American male and female). The average shells were compared by superimposing the shells and quantifying and describing the differences. Results: The African-American and Welsh subjects had average ages of 11.6 years and 11.8 years respectively. The shells of the African-American males and females both have more prominent lips and eyes than did their Welsh counterparts. The noses of the African-American averages were distinctly flatter and wider than the Welsh averages. The comparison of African-American male and female groups had the highest percentage of similarity among all the comparisons followed by the Welsh male and female comparison. The least similar groups were the African-American female and Welsh female groups. Conclusions: Three dimensional imaging can be used to compare facial morphology of various populations and genders. In general, African-American children have more prominent eyes, a flatter and broader nose, more procumbent lips, and are more prominent in the center of the forehead than Welsh children. Females in both ethnic groups tend to have more prominent malar areas and a more prominent chin point than their male counterparts.
Recommended Citation
Norris, Don Franklin, "Three-dimensional photography of facial morphology of African-American children compared to Welsh children" (2014). All ETDs from UAB. 2598.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2598