Cogs analysis: are caucasian norms applicable to haryana population?

Introduction: The advent of cephalometric radiography into the field of orthodontics led to a better understanding of the hard and soft tissues of the face and has become the gold standard for evaluation of facial skeleton for diagnosis and treatment planning in orthodontic and orthognathic surgery patients. Most of the cephalometric norms are based on data derived from Caucasian samples. Due to morphological difference between different racial groups; the norms derived for Caucasians may not be applicable for other
population groups.
Aim: The COGS analysis is the standard benchmark in cephalometrics for any orthognathic surgical diagnosis and treatment planning. Burstone and colleagues established cephalometric norms for the hard and soft tissue parameters for Caucasian population. These norms however may not be applicable in other ethnic and racial groups. Hence, the aim of the study was to ascertain cephalometric norms for COGS analysis in the Barwala population. Materials and Methods: Lateral cephalograms in occlusion of 60 subjects (30
males and 30 females) within the age range of 18-25 years with skeletal Class I jaw bases and Angle’s Class I molar relationship bilaterally were obtained. The cephalograms were manually traced and various hard and soft tissue cephalometric landmarks were identified and marked according to the definitions used by Burstone and Legan. Statistical analysis: The statistical analysis was done using SPSS and involved calculation of mean and standard deviation and student t-test.
Results: The Caucasian population had greater linear dimensions than the Barwala population namely, cranial base length, effective maxillary length, mandibular body and ramus length and vertical heights of the face. In dental parameters, Barwala males had more proclined maxillary incisors as compared to Caucasian males. The Barwala population also exhibited a more obtuse chin throat angle. Soft tissue parameters revealed a deep mentolabial sulcus, shorter chins, decreased incisal show as compared to female study group.
Conclusion: The study suggested cephalometric norms for COGS analysis in Barwala population. However, these values should be used as reference and not as absolute standards. Individual preferences and acceptable variation may be necessary in order to achieve optimum aesthetics.