RESUMO
AIM: To evaluate the perception of aesthetics by different professionals of different communities in India by a photographic study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a photographic study conducted among different professionals of different communities to establish an aesthetic norm for Indian population. The communities to which the professionals belonged were North Indian, South Indian, Maharashtrian, Gujarati and Parsi. The subjects photographed were aesthetic profiles with good occlusion. Five different facial photographic views each for male and female were obtained. These photographs were then subjected to changes in increments of 2 mm and 4 mm in retrusive and protrusive profile in Adobe Photoshop CS5 after which they were evaluated by different professionals of different communities according to their preference from most liked to least liked. RESULTS: The aesthetic preferences differed widely among different professionals of different community. CONCLUSION: The established aesthetic norms can be utilized by the dental fraternity in general and Orthodontist's in particular in diagnosis and treatment planning of Samples belonging to different communities to have the treatment outcome in unison with the established soft tissue norm for that particular community.
