A comparison of facial soft tissue thickness in Anatolian pre-pubertal and post-pubertal subjects in relation to different facial patterns

Objectives: Facial soft tissue thickness is important for forensic anthropologists, dentists and plastic surgeons. Forensic anthropologists use such information as a reference in facial reconstruction and superimposition. The purpose of this study was to measure facial tissue thicknesses separately for pre-puberty and post-puberty subjects with Turkish origins across different malocclusion types and to compare the results with each other and with values obtained for other races. Methods: The study was conducted on 402 healthy subjects. Facial tissue thicknesses were measured at 10 cephalometric landmarks in a computerized environment. Gender-based variations in facial tissue thickness were noted in prepubertal and postpubertal subjects. Results: Many facial tissue thickness values were observed to change in pre-puberty and post-puberty periods with respect to gender. In general, values were found to be higher in post-puberty males. Differences values were found to be the lowest for Class I and Class III females.