Mesh diagram analysis: developing a norm for Puerto Rican Americans.

Cephalometric radiography is an important diagnostic aid in orthodontics. Mesh analysis is a proportionate cephalometric method of graphically assessing disharmonies of the craniofacial complex. Original norms for this analysis were created from a white, European American sample. Norms for black Americans of African descent were developed in another study. The purposes of this investigation were: (1) to develop a standard mesh diagram from a Puerto Rican American population; (2) to compare the diagram with previously established data from the white sample; (3) to develop linear and angular means for the Legan, Burstone, Ricketts, DiPaolo, and Steiner analyses for a Puerto Rican American population; and (4) to assess the use of a panel for selecting esthetically pleasing faces. The subjects in the study had no previous orthodontic treatment, had Class I occlusion with 6 mm or less of crowding per dental arch, and had two parents and two sets of grandparents who were were born in Puerto Rico. Sixty-nine patients met the study criteria, and 50 of those patients (20 males and 30 females) were selected as having esthetically pleasing faces by the panel. Male and female norm diagrams were created and these were compared with those developed previously. Linear and angular measurements were also compared. Significant differences between the ethnic groups were found in the dentoalveolar region. Similarities were noticed in the upper face height and anterior cranial base length. The panel selection results showed no agreement within the sexes, occupations, or ethnic groups.