SEXUAL DIMORPHISM OF CEPHALOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS IN BELARUS RESIDENTS AGED 17 TO 24
Objective. To study the cephalometric and typological characteristics sexual dimorphism in Belarus men and women aged 17-24 years. Materials and methods. The cephalometric examinations of 390 men and 400 women aged 17-24 were conducted using V. V. Bunak's method with the application of standard instruments. Twenty one parameters and 26 indices of the head cranial and facial parts were investigated. The empirical findings were registered in a specially designed card and statistically analyzed. Substantiations of the debrachycephalization tendency are represented. Results. It was revealed that the growth process of the head cranial part mainly in vertical direction had continued over the period of 17-24 years of age in both study groups. The cephalometric indices allowed revealing the predominance of mesocephalic (83%), hypsicephalic (73.75%), and acrocephalic (78.8%) head types in both study groups. The parameters attaining their definitive sizes by the adolescence period (17 years) beginning are described. Conclusion. The overwhelming majority of the latitudinal and longitudinal parameters of the head cranial and facial parts in men were determined to be higher than the similar dimensions in women. It was detected that the cephalometric characteristics sexual dimorphism demonstrated evidently by the adolescence period beginning and remained unchanged for all age phases to follow up.