Abstract
Background: Facial appearance plays a major role in deciding the overall attractiveness of the individual and his social acceptance by others.
Aims: Assess the perception of smile with different incisal relationships in dental and facial views by female adolescents in Riyadh and evaluate the influence of these smiles on social aspects of adolescents.
Methods: One hundred twenty female adolescents (12-14 years) participated in the study. Photographs of (dental view and facial view) with (normal, increased over jet, increased overbite and open bite) relationships of a female adolescent used. VAS was used to smile attractiveness in both dental and facial views while SPQ12-14 used to evaluate the influence of smiles on social aspects. Descriptive statistics were used for quantitative and ordinal variables and Spearman rank correlation to assess the reliability of the responses.
Results: The comparison of responses towards the 4 dental views assessed by VAS showed the normal smile has higher mean rank value (470) and there was no statistically significant difference (p<0.001) among the mean rank values of the (over jet: 240, overbite: 205 and open bite: 200) views. The responses to the SPQ12-14 showed no statistically significant difference (p<0.0001) in the mean values of the 4 domains (Pleasantness, Honesty/dishonesty, Selfishness; Personal happiness; Intelligence) and global score across the (over jet, overbite and open bite) views.
Conclusion: Normal incisal relationship has favourable effect on the adolescent's acceptance by others. Further studies are recommended to test smile components that may affect facial attractiveness.