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Background: Facial beauty is a function of harmonious balance among all parts of the face, and the nose plays a dominant role in this because of its location exactly in the middle of the face. Therefore, an evaluation of the nasal form and its position relative to other facial structures should play an important part in the assessment of patients before orthognathic surgery, rhinoplasty or orthodontics., Aim: The aim was to establish normative values for the nose prominence of an adult Nigerian population using Holdaway's soft tissue cephalometric analysis., Methodology: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 100 adults aged 18-25 years, with normal occlusion and a harmonious facial appearance were analyzed. The nose prominence was assessed using Holdaway's analysis. Twenty radiographs randomly selected, were retraced to assess for errors. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Student's t-tests and analysis of variance using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences., Results: The mean value recorded for the nose prominence of the study population was 3.49 mm (standard deviation [SD], 3.26 mm), with a range of -5.0 mm to 15.0 mm. Mean values obtained for females were 3.73 mm (SD, 2.88 mm) and males 3.19 mm (SD, 3.70 mm). No statistically significant gender difference was observed (P>0.05). In addition, no significant difference was observed between the nose prominence values recorded for different age-groups (P>0.05)., Conclusion: Normative values were established for the nose prominence of an adult Nigerian population. The values obtained for Nigerians in this study are comparatively lower than that reported for other populations. These values would aid in treatment planning for orthognathic surgery, rhinoplasty and orthodontics in Nigerians.

Objectives: The aims of this study were to (1) identify soft tissue cephalometric norms for horizontal lip position in an adult Nigerian population; (2) compare values for Nigerian males and females; and (3) compare Nigerian norms with established norms for Caucasians and other populations., Design: A cross-sectional descriptive study., Setting: Lagos University Teaching Hospital Dental Clinic, Idi-araba, Lagos, Nigeria., Participants: One hundred students (44 males and 56 females) of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, aged 18-25 years, of Nigerian ancestry, with a normal class I occlusion and no facial asymmetry., Methodology: Lateral cephalometric radiographs of the subjects were taken in natural head position. Radiographs were manually traced and 11 soft tissue cephalometric parameters measured. These were derived from the Steiner, Ricketts, Burstone, Merrifield and Holdaway soft tissue analyses. Male and female values were compared using Student's t-test with a level of significance at P<0·05., Results: Statistically significant differences were observed between Nigerian males and females in eight of the variables studied, with males having more protrusive upper and lower lips than the females. Variables, which did not vary by sex, were soft tissue facial angle, nose prominence and soft tissue chin thickness. In addition, Nigerian norms were higher than norms reported by Steiner, Ricketts, Burstone and Holdaway for Caucasian populations, while the Z-angle was lower than the norm established by Merrifield., Conclusions: Gender-specific soft tissue norms for horizontal lip position should be used for orthodontic treatment planning in Nigerian subjects. Nigerians have more protrusive upper and lower lips compared to Caucasians.