Background: Normative craniofacial anthropometry provides clinically important reference values used in the treatment of craniofacial conditions. Few objective datasets of normative data exist for children.
Aim: To establish normative data regarding craniofacial morphology changes with growth in children.
Subjects and methods: 3D surface images of the same group of healthy children aged 6 - 11 years old recruited from a Dallas school were taken annually between the years 2015 - 2020. Composite 3D cephalometric faces were created for boys and girls of each age. General and craniofacial anthropometric measurements were compared.
Results: Seven hundred ninety one individual stereophotogrammetric acquisitions were used (400 boys, 391 girls) taken from 180 children. Linear facial, orbital, nasal, and oral anthropometric measurements revealed a consistent increase in magnitude with age. Composite 3D face comparisons revealed prominent vertical and anteroposterior growth trends in the lower and upper facial regions.
Conclusion: This study presents a longitudinal 3D control dataset of the same group of children over a 6-year period that can serve as reference norms for facial growth values and trends in children aged 6-11 years. The composite 3D normative faces are available for clinical and research purposes upon request, which may be interrogated and measured according to user need and preference.
Keywords: 3D cephalometric surface imaging; Craniofacial anthropometry; facial growth; longitudinal normative data; paediatrics.