The relationship between facial and convexity in young children and perceived intelligence

Objective: The principle objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between a pre-adolescent child's perceived intelligence and their sagittal facial relationship as determined by second and third grade elementary school educators. Materials and Methods: A digitized lateral cephalogram and photograph of an eight-year old child with Class I occlusion and normal overbite and overjet were entered into the Dolphin software program. The lateral cephalogram and photograph were linked to allow computerized manipulation to generate five profiles with a Steiner ANB value ranging from two to ten degrees by retruding the mandible in four profiles at two degree intervals and one profile by proclining the maxillary incisors to create an overjet relationship of 10 mm. Each profile simulation was then converted to a simple silhouette and printed out to create a series of "flashcards". Results: Fifty Elementary School teachers force ranked the profile silhouette flashcards for perceived intelligence. Profile images corresponding to Steiner ANB angles of two and four degrees consistently filled the position of highest in intelligence perception. Conversely, the position of lowest intelligence was exclusively filled by profile images with ANB angles of eight and ten degrees. Images with ANB angles equal to two and four degrees had a 48% and 52% chance respectively to be ranked as having the highest intelligence, while figures with ANB angles of eight and ten degrees had 16% and 84% chance respectively to be ranked as having the lowest intelligence. Conclusion: According to our data, elementary school teachers almost uniformly associate a retrognathic profile of a pre-adolescent child with decreased intelligence. The findings of our study re-affirm the need for considering psychological indications for initiating interceptive orthodontics treatment in class II child patients.