Soft Tissue Cephalometric Norms for a North Indian Population Group Using Legan and Burstone Analysis

Cephalometric norms are used for providing guidance to clinicians during diagnosis and treatment planning. Most classical norms are not applicable to diverse racial and ethnic population hence the purpose of this study was to establish the soft tissue norms of a North Indian population group using Legan and Burstone soft tissue analysis. The study was conducted on 60 adult subjects with esthetically pleasing profiles aged 18-25 years. Standardized lateral cephalograms were taken in a natural head position and analyzed. North Indians were found to have more convex faces, protrusive lips and acute nasolabial angles compared with Caucasians. Males had more convex faces and protrusive lips than females. This North Indian population group had significant deviations from the Caucasian standards. Considerable diversity was also found for some of the soft tissue variables in males and females.