Assessment of facial golden proportions among young Japanese women

IntroductionFacial proportions are of interest in orthodontics. The null hypothesis is that there is no difference in golden proportions of the soft-tissue facial balance between Japanese and white women.MethodsFacial proportions were assessed by examining photographs of 3 groups of Asian women: group 1, 30 young adult patients with a skeletal Class 1 occlusion; group 2, 30 models; and group 3, 14 popular actresses. Photographic prints or slides were digitized for image analysis. Group 1 subjects had standardized photos taken as part of their treatment. Photos of the subjects in groups 2 and 3 were collected from magazines and other sources and were of varying sizes; therefore, the output image size was not considered. The range of measurement errors was 0.17% to 1.16%. ANOVA was selected because the data set was normally distributed with homogeneous variances.ResultsThe subjects in the 3 groups showed good total facial proportions. The proportions of the face-height components in group 1 were similar to the golden proportion, which indicated a longer, lower facial height and shorter nose. Group 2 differed from the golden proportion, with a short, lower facial height. Group 3 had golden proportions in all 7 measurements. The proportion of the face width deviated from the golden proportion, indicating a small mouth or wide-set eyes in groups 1 and 2.ConclusionsThe null hypothesis was verified in the group 3 actresses in the facial height components. Some measurements in groups 1 and 2 showed different facial proportions that deviated from the golden proportion (ratio).