Cephalometrics, introduced by BROADBENT in the year 1931, plays a
crucial role in Pedodontics and Dentofacial Orthopaedics. It has made it easier and
economical to predict the post-orthodontic results of the patient using this as a tool.
This chapter outlines the basics of cephalometrics, including the indications,
limitations, etc., with special emphasis on its role in Pediatric Dentistry. It lays down
the recent guidelines given by the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry for using
cephalometrics in children. It provides details regarding various tools, equipment
required, and methodology of tracing as well as analysing the cephalometric
radiographs. It also enlists the skeletal and dental landmarks and planes needed for the
analysis. Details regarding Down’s, Steiner’s, Tweed’s, and Wit’s analyses have been
explained in this chapter.
With the new era of digitalization, this chapter also highlights the recent advances
made in Cephalometrics, providing information about the different computer-based
programs and smartphone applications available for efficient landmark identification
and analysis. The fundamental essence of the chapter is to help both undergraduate and
even post-graduate pediatric students to have the basic knowledge and information
about Cephalometrics, including its advancements made.
Keywords: Cephalometrics , Cephalometric analysis, Cephalograms, Dentofacial pedodontics, Orthodontic.
