Perception of Altered Smile Esthetics by Orthodontists, General Dentists, and Laypeople

Abstract

Background: Considering the significance of creation of a consonant smile arc and gap of information on the role of smile arc, gingival margin position, and the golden ratio in smile esthetics, this study assessed the perception of laypeople, general dentists, and orthodontists from altered smile esthetics.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a frontal-view smiling photograph was obtained from an average-looking woman and cropped to show only the lower third of the face. Photoshop software was then used to create 12 altered images from the original photograph by changing the position of the gingival margin, golden ratio of the teeth, and smile arc. The photographs were arranged in an online questionnaire and sent to 144 raters in three groups of orthodontists (n=31), general dentists (n=49), and laypeople (n=61). The raters were asked to rate the smile attractiveness of each image using a 1-10 scale. Data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests (alpha=0.05).
Results: The gender of the raters had no significant effect on their rating (P>0.05). The three groups had no significant difference in opinion regarding the attractiveness of images with altered gingival margin position and altered golden ratio (P>0.05). In assessment of the smile arc, laypeople, unlike the other two rater groups, selected the reverse smile arc as the most attractive.
Conclusion: The three rater groups had the same opinion regarding the smile attractiveness of most altered images except for the reverse smile arc, which was only favored by the laypeople.