Anthropometric measurements of 3-to-5-year-old children from four kindergartens of the province of Boyacá, Colombia

Abstract

BACKGROUND: in Colombia, many populations have been analyzed through anthropological investigations, in which lifestyles, costumes and ways of thinking have been described. Seeking to enrich the dental practice and knowledge, it was considered necessary to study the facial characteristics of one Colombian population. OBJECTIVE: To calculate the average of the anthropometric indexes and perform the interarch and intra-arch analysis of a population aged 3-5 years of the Province of Boyacá (Colombia). METHOD: The sample consisted of 76 children who had complete primary dentition and attended four kindergartens of Boyacá. The anthropometric measurements were taken clinically with a caliper designed by the research group; frontal and lateral photographs were taken to analyze the face symmetry; superior and inferior dental casts were used to measure the interarch and intra-arch relations. Results were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: the profile and the convexity angle presented a slightly increased value compared to the standards stated in the international tables. The results showed a frontonasal angle under the normal ranges and a tendency to a  convex profile; the other angles measured were found to have normal ranges. The majority of the patients under study, had an ideal occlusion (bilateral class I canine and bilateral flush terminal plane); nevertheless, the presence of malpositions were low, and both the overbite and overjet had normal values.