Evaluation of Craniofacial Morphometry of Northern Saudi Arabian Population, Using Rickett's Analysis: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Aims: The aims of this study are to evaluate the craniofacial morphometric measurements for Saudi Arabian adults in Jouf region using Ricketts analysis and comparing the findings with established Caucasian cephalometric norms. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional analytical study. The sample consisted of 160 lateral digital cephalometric radiographs collected from the orthodontic patients of College of Dentistry, Jouf University. The inclusion criteria were good quality cephalometric film, with visible landmark. The exclusion criteria were no acquired or pathological skeletal or dental deformities, no history of corrective orthodontic therapy, and patients of non-Saudi Arabian descent. Relevant cephalometric landmarks were determined and analysis was done using the SPSS software. The level of significance was tested using independent t-test with 95 percent confidence interval. A P-value of <0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: The descriptive statistics of all lateral cephalometric radiographs for 15 measurements were carried out on the entire sample size of 160 subjects. None of the parameters measured showed any significant differences between Saudi Arabian males and females. Three out of the eight skeletal variables were larger in females compared with males. Conclusion: The differences observed between the Saudi Arabian and Caucasian values are not statistically significant, indicating that within the limitations of this study, Caucasian standardized values are adequate in treating Saudi Arabian orthodontic patients. However, there are notable differences between Saudi Arabian males and females indicating sexual dimorphism. Further investigation may be needed which is outside the scope of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]