• V F Ferrario, C Sforza, C E Poggio, and G Tartaglia.
• Laboratorio di Anatomia Funzionale dell' Apparato Stomatognatico, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirugia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy.
• J. Oral Maxillofac. Surg. 1995 Sep 1; 53 (9): 1008-14; discussion 1014-5.

PurposeThe object of this investigation was to determine whether young women considered as beautiful differ in their three-dimensional facial characteristics from normal women of the same age and race.MethodsThe three-dimensional coordinates of 22 standardized soft-tissue facial landmarks were automatically collected in two groups of women using a noninvasive instrument. The first group consisted of 10 white television actresses selected only on the basis of their soft-tissue facial appearance ("beautiful" group); the second group included 40 healthy, white women selected according to criteria of dentofacial normality ("normal" group). The x, y, and z coordinates of the points collected on each woman were used to calculate several three-dimensional angles, linear distances, linear distance ratios, and facial volumes.ResultsThe facial morphometric characteristics within the beautiful group were more uniform than within the normal group. On average, the beautiful women had a larger forehead, a larger middle facial third relative to the total face, a wider (left-right dimension) and less deep (anteroposterior dimension) face, a smaller nose, and a less convex face (in both the sagittal and transversal planes) than the normal women.ConclusionThe three-dimensional cutaneous facial characteristics of the beautiful women were significantly different from the characteristics of the normal women.

9 keywords...

hide…