Soft-tissue 3D Facial Imaging in Children and Adolescents: Towards the Definition of New Reference Standards

In the last decades, head and face imaging has shifted from two-dimensional (2D) representations (conventional radiography, photography) to three-dimensional (3D) techniques that can better depict the complex morphology of this part of the body, since they can provide a large number of additional anthropometric information [1-3]. 3D imaging systems can be divided into volumetric (computed tomography, cone beam computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging) and optical surface instruments (laser scanning, moiré techniques, stereophotogrammetry, patterned light techniques) [4]. These last are safe and not invasive, and provide a 3D representation of the external (cutaneous) facial surface.