The purpose of this study was to assess longitudinal changes in the soft-tissue profile in untreated subjects from the prepubertal through the postpubertal stages of development as defined by the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method.

A total of 14 boys and 15 girls who were longitudinally followed from about 10 through about 16 years of age with Class I occlusal, normal anteroposterior, and vertical skeletal relationships were selected. Lateral cephalograms at three consecutive developmental periods (prepubertal, pubertal, and postpubertal) corresponding to the different stages in CVM had to be available for all selected subjects. Eleven angular and 18 linear measurements were made. Analysis of variance was used to search for significant changes between developmental periods. Duncan's test for multiple comparisons was then used to identify the source of any significant difference. Differences between the genders were determined by using the Student t-test.

Nasal prominence and dimensions increased more than chin, upper and lower lip prominences and dimensions. After puberty, males had more soft tissue changes than females. In females, growth changes mostly took place between the prepuberty and puberty growth periods.

These results can be used by orthodontists as representative of the soft tissue profile changes during the developmental period.