Changes in the soft tissue chin after orthodontic treatment

The study envisages changes in the contour of the soft tissue chin immediately and 5 years after orthodontic treatment in a group of 31 male and 29 female patients. The group was classified according to facial types and whether treatment involved extraction of first premolar teeth. The average age before treatment was 10 years 7 months, immediately after treatment it was 14 years 6 months, and 5 years after treatment was 21 years 6 months. The chin contour was studied from cephalometric x-ray tracings. The facial types--mesofacial, brachyfacial, and dolichofacial--were identified on the basis of cephalometric analysis. The chin thickness was registered at six different locations around the symphysis, from the point on the soft tissue chin corresponding to B point to the chin point corresponding to menton. Statistical means and standard deviations for all of the six chin thicknesses were calculated. It was found that the overall soft tissue chin thickness increased after orthodontic treatment. The females had less increase at all levels than the males. The dolichofacial group showed a greater increase in the soft tissue chin thickness after treatment. The mesofacial and brachyfacial groups of females showed no statistically significant increases. Regression tests of independent variables, including age, sex, facial type, and such other cephalometric measurements as 1 - A Pog, 1 to A Pog, mandibular plane, mandibular arc, facial axis, lower face height, and classification of malocclusion, indicated that age, sex, and facial type were the only variables that influenced the soft tissue chin thickness.