Citation: Onyinye Mary Ozioko, Ogugua Augustine Egwu, Elizabeth Finbarrs-Bello (2023). Perioral Anthropometric Indices: Its Relevance in Reconstructive Surgery. Saudi J Oral Dent Res, 8(2): 76-81. 76 Saudi Journal of Oral and Dental Research Abbreviated Key Title: Saudi J Oral Dent Res ISSN 2518-1300 (Print) | ISSN 2518-1297 (Online) Scholars Middle East Publishers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates Journal homepage: https://saudijournals.com Original Research Article Anatomy Perioral Anthropometric Indices: Its Relevance in Reconstructive Surgery Onyinye Mary Ozioko 1* , Ogugua Augustine Egwu 2 , Elizabeth Finbarrs-Bello 1 1 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria 2 Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, Alex Ekwueme, Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State, Nigeria DOI: 10.36348/sjodr.2023.v08i02.003 | Received: 15.12.2022 | Accepted: 23.01.2023 | Published: 14.02.2023 *Corresponding author: Onyinye Mary Ozioko Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu State, Nigeria Abstract Background: The perioral region plays an important role in facial recognition, gender classification, esthetics, facial expression, speech and eating. Aim: To establish normative perioral data for South-East, Nigerian children Methods: A sample of 120 healthy subjects within the age range of 1 to 5 years were enrolled in this study. Two dimensional photographs of the face were captured non-invasively using a Nikon D 90 camera, ten perioral landmarks were identified and four indices deduced Results: It was observed that vertical mouth height index, upper lip thickness and lip index in the males showed higher values when compared to the females which indicates sexual dimorphism (P   . Most children in our cohort were classified as having a thick lip index, mouth of intermediate height in relation to the height of the face, thick upper and lower lip thickness index, narrow mouth in relation to the width of the eyes. The mean values of Vermillion height of Lower lip and Lower Lip Thickness Index was also observed to be consistently higher when compared to upper lip in both sexes. Conclusion: The study presents a primary data base for perioral anthropometric indices of children in South-East Nigerian which can aid ethnic specific postoperative evaluation of congenital or post- traumatic orofacial reconstructive surgeries. Keywords: Children, Perioral, Reconstructive Surgery, Anthropometry. Copyright © 2023 The Author(s): This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium for non-commercial use provided the original author and source are credited. INTRODUCTION The lips are an essential component of the symmetry and aesthetics of the face (Kar et al., 2018). Research on lip indices, morphology, aesthetics and labial–facial relationships could provide a basic theory to support diagnosis and treatment protocols in orofacial anomalies and evaluative criteria for treatment and surgical improvements (Wu et al., 2019). Labial dimensions are subject to age variations (Sforza et al., 2010) gender and ethnic inclination (Berkovitz and Standerij 2005). In the management of cleft lip and palate, data about the growth rate of the craniofacial skeleton and facial soft tissues are important in determining the accurate time for correcting of facial deformation (Berkovitz and Standerij 2005). Hence specific normative data are needed in planning surgical interventions in the orolabial region (Raschke et al., 2012, Jayaratne et al., 2013). Studies have been carried out in Nigeria to develop normative values (Ajayi, 2004). These studies have however been restricted to dentoskeletal relationships with little emphasis on soft tissue profile. Thus, there is need to develop baseline perioral parameters as a surgeons precision tool to aid clinical diagnosis and treatment in orofacial reconstructive surgeries for South-East Nigerian’s children. MATERIALS AND METHODS Image J software developed at the National Institutes of Health and the Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation (LOCI, University of Wisconsin), Nikon D90 digital single lens reflex camera (Nikon, Thailand August 27, 2008), Tripod stand, Self - adhesive stickers (4.5cm). Subjects The study group consisted of 120 apparently healthy children with no history of orofacial surgery