Patterns of Facial Profile Preference in a Large Sample of Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The objective of this study was to explore dental students' facial profile preferences in a large sample of students. Nine hundred and nineteen dental students of four dental schools were involved. As part of a larger study on dentofacial esthetics, six photo series consisting of one unaltered and four altered variants of the same female profile were distributed among the students. The altered features were ones that are esthetically significant according to the literature. The students had to indicate the photo in each series that they preferred. The data were analyzed in a regression model in which preference in the given photo series was the dependent variable and gender, grade of studies, and dental school were the factors. Eight hundred and sixty-one students (93.7%) responded. Gender and dental school were not associated with the observed preferences, but the grade of studies was associated for three of the modified parameters: chin prominence, the sagittal position of the maxillary dental arch, and the simultaneous modification of the prominence of the chin and the nose. This study has confirmed several earlier observations, and new observations have also been made. We have demonstrated that the anteroposterior position of the maxillary incisors may be an important determinant of profile esthetics, even if this position does not influence the situation of the soft tissues and if the forehead cannot be used as a reference. We have also shown that the harmony between the nose and the chin overrides the importance of their individual dimensions.

Dentofacial mini- and microesthetics as perceived by dental students: A cross-sectional multi-site study.

BACKGROUND: How dental education influences students' dental and dentofacial esthetic perception has been studied for some time, given the importance of esthetics in dentistry. However, no study before has studied this question in a large sample of students from all grades of dental school. This study sought to fill that gap. The aim was to assess if students' dentofacial esthetic autoperception and heteroperception are associated with their actual stage of studies (grade) and if autoperception has any effect on heteroperception. METHODS: Between October 2018 and August 2019, a questionnaire was distributed to 919 dental students of all 5 grades of dental school at all four dental schools in Hungary. The questionnaire consisted of the following parts (see also the supplementary material): 1. Demographic data (3 items), Self-Esthetics I (11 multiple- choice items regarding the respondents' perception of their own dentofacial esthetics), Self-Esthetics II (6 Likert-type items regarding the respondents' perception of their own dentofacial esthetics), and Image rating (10 items, 5 images each, of which the respondents have to choose the one they find the most attractive). Both the self-esthetics and the photo rating items were aimed at the assessment of mini- and microesthetic features. RESULTS: The response rate was 93.7% (861 students). The self-perception of the respondents was highly favorable, regardless of grade or gender. Grade and heteroperception were significantly associated regarding maxillary midline shift (p < 0.01) and the relative visibility of the arches behind the lips (p < 0.01). Detailed analysis showed a characteristic pattern of preference changes across grades for both esthetic aspects. The third year of studies appeared to be a dividing line in both cases, after which a real preference order was established. Association between autoperception and heteroperception could not be verified for statistical reasons. CONCLUSION: Our findings corroborate the results of most previous studies regarding the effect of dental education on the dentofacial esthetic perception of students. We have shown that the effect can be demonstrated on the grade level, which we attribute to the specific curricular contents. We found no gender effect, which, in the light of the literature, suggests that the gender effect in dentofacial esthetic perception is highly culture dependent. The results allow no conclusion regarding the relation between autoperception and heteroperception.