In orthodontics/ braces treatment, the anatomical relationships and proportions of the nose, lips and chin determine facial balance. The orthodontist must identify not only the structural facial changes that occur with treatment but also the amount and direction of growth expected in the face.
In Subtelny’s study of longitudinal characteristics of the soft tissue profile, the vertical dimension of the nose attains more growth proportionately than the anteroposterior projection in both males and females. There have been several succeeding studies that verified the downward and forward growth of the nose. In general, girls have a predisposition for earlier nasal growth than boys.
