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he h u m a n face has been the subject of now be so treated as to bring about a complete
T study since man could first express himself. transformation of the facial expression, even to
As civilizations have risen and subsequently the establishment of lines of beauty."
faded away, one thing that has remained is art, Tweed revolutionized orthodontic diagnosis
in most cases, drawings, paintings, and so on of because of his c o n c e r n for the balance and har-
faces. During the Renaissance, da Vinci, Michae- m o n y of the lower face. Many in our specialty
langelo, and D u h r e r led o t h e r artists to study have studied the face, z-6 developed diagnostic
faces. Facial p r o p o r t i o n was discovered; there guidelines for quantifying facial balance, 7-u and
were standards set for balance and h a r m o n y of proposed treatment regimens that give the orth-
the lower face. In our specialty of orthodontics, odontic clinician a greater certainty that facial
Angle was vitally c o n c e r n e d about the face. In balance and h a r m o n y is an attainable goal for
his sixth edition, 1 he states, "One of the evil their patients.
effects of malocclusion is the marring or distort- The underlying theme that surfaces from all
ing of the normal facial lines. It follows that, in artists and orthodontic investigators is the con-
the application of the principles of orthodontia, cept that there c a n n o t be good balance and
our efforts should be so directed as to mold and h a r m o n y in the lower face unless the vertical
modify these lines of i n h a r m o n y to those of dimension is within normal limits. The most
h a r m o n y and facial beauty so far as lies within important prerequisite for facial balance is a
the range of the possibilities of art, and of the normal vertical dimension of the lower face.
type and t e m p e r a m e n t of the individual. O u r Poulton 12 c o n d u c t e d a study on cervical traction
opportunities for benefiting humanity are very and f o u n d that large lower anterior facial
great in this field, far exceeding those offered by heights were most often associated with a dis-
any other branch of dental science, for patients pleasing face. In their article on soft-tissue pro-
with facial lines so distorted as sometimes to be file preference, DeSmit and DermauO 3 created
a marked deformity and a source of constant three different series of nine profile photo-
humiliation to themselves and their friends may graphs so that a total of more than 200 profiles
could be ranked by graduate dental students.
They f o u n d that differences in gender and orth-
Prom the Department of Orthodontics, University of Tennessee, odontic knowledge of the students seemed to
Memphis, TN; and a Private Practice, Edina, MN. have no significant influence on their esthetic
Address cor~rspondence to James L. Vaden, DDS, M8, Depart- preference. The results of their study confirmed
ment of Orthodonti~, University of Tennessee, Health Seienee Cen- the importance of anteroposterior deviations
ter, 875 Union Avenue, Memphis, TN 38163.
Copyright 2002, Els~ier Science (USA). All rights trserved. but suggested that unaesthetic facial profiles
1073-8746/02/0803-0003535.00/0 that were a result of anteroposterior deviations
doi:l O.1053/sodo. 2002.125431 were completely overshadowed by long-face fea-
t u r e s - - t h e long-face feature being m o r e unaes- third of the face into an u p p e r one third and a
thetic. Because of the challenge of the vertical lower two third. These divisions of the face can
dimension, the subject of this article is of ex- be used by the clinician to help diagnose vertical
treme i m p o r t a n c e to the orthodontic specialist. dimension problems. For example, does a pa-
Not only must the specialist recognize the prob- tient have a disproportionately long lower facial
lem, the specialist must u n d e r s t a n d the diagno- height because of vertical maxillary excess or to
sis of the p r o b l e m so that all facets and compo- excessive chin height? Conversely, is a short fa-
nents of the vertical dimension e n i g m a are cial height caused by vertical maxillary defi-
understood. T h e clinician must be able to rec- ciency or a short chin height? 17 By using these
ognize the various c o m p o n e n t s of a vertical di- accepted proportions as a guide, the patient
mension abnormality and u n d e r s t a n d the inter- shown in Figure 2 has an excessive lower ante-
relationship of all the elements of the problem. rior facial height, whereas the patient shown in
Before discussing the abnormal, it is p r u d e n t Figure 3 has diminished lower anterior facial
to understand the normal. Two of the most ac- height. Although it is evident that both have
cepted descriptions or publications of vertical vertical dimension abnormalities by looking at
facial proportions have b e e n published by Fra- the face, measuring the facial proportions con-
kas 14 and Frakas and Munro. 15 In these, they firms this intuitive conclusion. A careful deter-
describe the ideal face as vertically divided into mination of the vertical proportions of the face
equal thirds by horizontal lines that approxi- is therefore the first step in the diagnosis of a
mate the hairline, the bridge of the nose, the ala vertical dimension problem.
of the nose, and m e n t o n (Fig 1)J 6 Figure 1 also
shows that in the ideal vertically p r o p o r t i o n e d
Role of Skeletal and Dental
face there is a further division of the lower one
Relationships
After examining the face and quantifying its pro-
portions, the skeletal pattern and the teeth and
their relationships to each other must be scruti-
nized. However, a diagnosis of the vertical di-
m e n s i o n is m o r e complicated because vertical
discrepancy malocclusions are nmltidimen-
1/3 sional. For example, dentoalveolar abnormali-
ties can impact the skeletal pattern, and p o o r
skeletal patterns can cause dentoalveolar com-
pensations that are difficult for the clinician to
correct. T h e following variations can be present,
113 either alone or in combination: (1) maxilla:
maxillary posterior alveolar excess and inferiorly
positioned maxilla and (2) mandible: mandibu-
lar posterior alveolar excess and short mandib-
ular rami. O t h e r abnormalities may include
113 superiorly positioned condylar fossa, obtuse cra-
nial base angle, and condylar resorption.
Any of these conditions, with or without ab-
errant m a n d i b u l a r growth rotation, can be a
causative factor in the vertical discrepancy mal-
occlusion.
Figure 1. The ideal facial proportions as described
by Frakas 14 and Frakas and Munro. 15 The frontal
view of the face is divided into equal thirds by Condylar Growth
horizontal lines that approximate the hairline, the
bridge of the nose, and the ala of the nose and A c o m m o n scenario affecting the skeletal prob-
menton. The lower third is further divided into an lem is m a n d i b u l a r growth a n d growth rotation,
upper third and a lower two third. which unfavorably impacts dentoalveolar devel-
122 Vaden and Pearson
Figure 2. An example of a
patient with an excessive
lower facial height.
o p m e n t in both the maxilla and mandible. tients with long-face syndrome (Fig 6A and B)
Bjork is-21 and Bjork and Skieller 2:~,24 have per- have a m o r e posteriorly directed growth pattern
f o r m e d n m n e r o u s studies that have shown that of the m a n d i b u l a r condyle (Fig 7). 26,27 These
the most c o m m o n direction of condylar growth backward growth rotators have increased ante-
is vertical, with some anterior c o m p o n e n t . Pa- rior facial height, a m o r e posterior position of
tients with a p r o n o u n c e d short lower anterior the chin, and in e x t r e m e cases, an anterior o p e n
facial height (Fig 4A and B) generally exhibit bite may develop. Serial images of the patient
upward and forward condylar growth (Fig 5). taken to m o n i t o r the direction of condylar
These individuals generally have a d e e p vertical growth would be very useful for the diagnosis of
overbite with a d e e p mentolabial sulcus and a vertical growth. At the present time, serial imag-
strong overclosed appearance. 25 In contrast, pa- ing poses certain concerns, most significantly
Figure 3. An example of a
patient with a diminished
lower facial height.
Diagaosis of the Vertical Dimension 123
Figure 5. An example showing upward and forward Anterior and Posterior Facial Height
condylar growth.
Vertical dimension skeletal abnormalities are
not solely caused by condylar growth direction.
indicators because of difficulties e n c o u n t e r e d in They are also caused by differences in anterior
study design. Some in the specialty also question facial height and posterior facial height develop-
whether several of the suggestions are valid in- ment. These differences in height development
dicators of a particular type of growth rotation. can lead to rotational growth or to changes in
However, when used for their intended purpose, mandibular position that greatly influence the
as guidelines only, the indicators have some use- position of the chin. ~ Etiologies influencing un-
ful clinical applications in the diagnosis of the favorable differences in development of anterior
patient with vertical dysplasia (Table 1). and posterior facial height are nmltifactorial.
Using Bjork's guidelines, it is interesting to These factors can, for simplicity, be subdivided
study Figures 4B and 6B. Figure 4B, the forward into those caused by (1) dentoalveolar develop-
rotator, exhibits several of Bjork's indicators in- m e n t and (2) environmental factors.
cluding observations that (1) the condylar head
curves forward, (2) the mandular canal is
Dentoalveolar Development
curved, (3) the symphysis has a backward cant,
(4) the interincisal angle is obtuse and, (5) Issacson et al 3~ studied dentoalveolar develop-
lower anterior facial height is short. Figure 6B, m e n t in three groups of subjects--those with
short anterior facial height, those with average short anterior facial height (low MP-SN angles).
anterior facial height, and those with excessive This difference of 5.1 m m of dentoalveolar de-
anterior facial height. T h e a m o u n t of maxillary v e l o p m e n t between the high angle and low an-
posterior alveolar d e v e l o p m e n t was t o u n d to de- gle groups is of significance.
crease as the MP-SN angle decreased. In patients M a n d i b u l a r p o s t e r i o r alveolar d e v e l o p m e n t
with long anterior facial height (high MP-SN similarly d e c r e a s e d with decreases in the
angles), the m e a n distance f r o m the occlusal MP-SN angle b u t m u c h less dramatically t h a n
plane to the inferior edge of the palate was 22.50 those f o u n d in the maxilla. M a n d i b u l a r h e i g h t
m m . This distance decreased to 19.6 m m for the showed a m e a n of 31.2 m m for the l o n g ante-
average g r o u p and 17.1 m m for the g r o u p with rior face h e i g h t g r o u p , 28.2 for the average
126 Vaden and Pearson
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