CEPHALOMETRIC STUDY OF MOUTH MORPHOLOGY AMONG MAJOR NIGERIAN TRIBES

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that Nigerians of the three major tribes of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo are of similar cephalometric parameters (morphological patterns) of the lips and mouth. 300 subjects were selected from each of Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba tribe. A total of nine hundred (900) randomly selected volunteered subjects aged 18 – 30 years (450 males and 450 females) who were of Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba tribe by both parent and grandparents were, therefore, used in the study. Cephalometric parameters measured include: width of the philtrum, width of the mouth (length of the labial fissure), height of the upper lip, height of the cutaneous upper lip, height of the cutaneous lower lip, height of the lower lip, depth of the body of mandible and the vermilion heights of upper and lower lips. The statistical significance of the differences between the tribes was determined by using the student’s t-test at p≤0.05. No statistically significant differences exist between the cephalometric parameters of the tribes studied. Our findings are, therefore, consistent with the stated hypothesis.