Soft tissue profile in Anatolian Turkish adults: Part I. Evaluation of horizontal lip position using different soft tissue analyses

This study investigated cephalometrically the horizontal lip position of Anatolian Turkish adults using the soft tissue analyses of Steiner, Ricketts, Burstone, Sushner, Holdaway, and Merrifield. Ninety-six adults (55 females, mean age, 21.63 years; 41 males, mean age, 22.45 years) with Angle Class I occlusal relationships were selected from the dentistry students at the University of Istanbul and called the dentally normal group. Their lateral cephalometric radiographs were analyzed, and 44 subjects (21 females, mean age, 21.35 years; 23 males, mean age, 21.41 years) with normal anteroposterior (ANB angle, 2degrees +/- 2degrees) and vertical (SN-MP angle, 32degrees +/- 5degrees) skeletal relationships were selected from the dentally normal group and called the dentally and skeletally normal group. Ten linear and 6 angular measurements were analyzed on each radiograph, and the significance of the differences between the groups was studied by means of the Mann-Whitney U test. The results of this study indicate that in Anatolian Turkish adults (1) the upper and lower lips were retrusive according to the norms of Steiner and Ricketts; (2) both the upper and lower lip values were within the normal range according to Burstone's B line; (3) the upper lip was protrusive and the lower lip was retrusive compared with the norms developed by Sushner for a black population; (4) the value for the lower lip was similar to the standard proposed by Holdaway, while the values for the nasal prominence and the H angle were greater than Holdaway's norms; and (5) the Z angle was smaller than the norm established by Merrifield.