Smile perception amongst orthodontists and laypersons

Abstract

Introduction: Smile is one of the most noticed feature in face. Facial aesthetics are integral to Orthodontic diagnosis and treatment plans are made keeping in mind the smile aesthetics. Hence the purpose of this study was to determine the smile perception of orthodontists and laypersons.

Material and Methods: This Prospective observational study was conducted at Dental Section, Liaquat University Hospital Jamshoro, from January to December 2016. Total 88 cases were selected and distributed amongst orthodontists and lay persons. The orthodontists were graduates and selected randomly. The lay person group consisted of those persons having no dental knowledge like business people, lawyers and teachers. Persons who refused to take the questionnaire e.g. dental attendants and technicians were not included in the sample. The participants were asked to score the attractiveness of each smile image separately using a visual analog scale (VAS), graded from least attractive to most attractive.

Results: The sample consisted of 88 patients with a male to female ratio of 1:1.25. The minimum age being 16 years and maximum being 55 years. Most of the patients were in the range of 25 to 40 years with mean age was 31.11 ± 2.1 years. In this study mean height of gingival margins in millimetres was measured to be 1.9 ± 1.1mm which was observed in 16 to 35 year age bracket while 0 ± 2.1 mm in 36 to 55 years. In the present study, Orthodontists observed gingival display of 1 mm in 11 (25%) cases and 2 mm in 17 (38.63%) cases, while laypersons observed 0 mm in 15 (34.09%) cases and 2 mm in 11 (25%) cases.

Conclusions: It was concluded that there are differences in layperson’s and orthodontists perception of smile on the basis of gingival show.