Growth changes in the nasal profile from 7 to 18 years of age.

Lateral head cephalograms of 17 male and 23 female subjects, aged 7 to 18 years, were evaluated for age changes in morphology and position of the nose with reference to the pterygomaxillary vertical plane. The study was confined to persons with normal facial profiles, normal overjets, and Class I molar relationships. Four linear and two angular dimensions were measured. Statistical analysis included the calculation of medians, Q ranges, proportion of growth completed at each age expressed as a percentage of the size of the variable at 18 years, and a pairwise correlation matrix. The results indicated that (1) increments in nose height, depth, and inclination are essentially complete in girls by 16 years of age, while continuing to increase in males up to and beyond 18 years; (2) the ratio of upper to lower nose heights remains at approximately 3:1 from 7 to 18 years in both sexes; (3) the ratio of nose depth to sagittal depth of the underlying skeleton changed from 1:2 at 7 years in both sexes to 1:1.5 in male subjects and 1:1.6 in female subjects at 18 years; (4) although upper nose inclination was similar for the two sexes, lower nose inclination was slightly larger in female subjects, especially after the age of 10 years; (5) persons with greater increments in nose depth than in nose height, or in nose depth than in the sagittal depth of the underlying skeleton, develop larger upper nose inclinations. The impact of nasal growth changes on orthodontic diagnosis and treatment planning was emphasized.