ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate Beijing college students' concern and preference for maxillary anterior tooth esthetic factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Several images about lip and tooth were made through computer. A questionnaire was sent out to students in ten colleges and then collected. There were five factors to be evaluated: relationship of maxillary incisors and lower lip, numbers of tooth exposed, shape of centric incisor, crown width-length ratio, gingival margin. Concern of the beauty of anterior tooth, ie. tooth shape, tooth arrangement, shape of gingiva and so on, were then analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There were 408 responses collected, and 47.5% (194/408) of them preferred light contact between upper incisors and lower lip; 49.5% (202/408) preferred 8 tooth exposed when smile; 69.1% (282/408) preferred oval crown shape; 52.5% (214/408) preferred 0.85 as a crown width-length ratio; 49.5% (202/408)of responses chose the curve of gingiva runs horizontal. The average score of concern for male was 52.6% (100/190), for female was 59.6% (130/218).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Most results from this study accord with the classical principles of tooth esthetics. Sex affects the concern and preferences of maxillary anterior tooth esthetics factors.</p>