Evaluation of skeletal asymmetry in aesthetically symmetric faces

Aims: To evaluate the extent and nature of facial asymmetry in aesthetically symmetric faces seen in the Rajasthan population and to analyze the gender wise difference in asymmetry. Methods: The present study was carried out among 50 adult subjects (25 males and 25 females) aged 12-25 years. All the subjects were taken from the daily out patients of the Department of orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Darshan Dental College, Udaipur, Rajasthan. A Posteroanterior(PA) cephalogram was obtained with each subject in centric occlusion. Skeletal asymmetry was determined from three bilateral landmarks as defined by Sassouni: Laterosuperior orbit (LO); Lateral zygoma (Zyg) and Gonion (Go). Results: The results indicate less asymmetry and more dimensional stability as the cranium is approached and mandibular region shows the asymmetries of higher magnitude. A tendency toward right side dominance was statistically significant. Conclusions: Even in the aesthetically symmetric faces skeletal asymmetry was common and soft tissue masking is invariably seen in all the asymmetric cases.