Influence of Maxillary Central Incisor Asymmetries on the Perception of Dentofacial Esthetics at Repose

Background: Dentofacial esthetic has been a growing quest in contemporary society. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of maxillary central incisor edge asymmetries on the perception of dentofacial esthetics at reposeamong orthodontists and laypersons. Four facial frontal photographs at repose were selected, of a White man and woman; and of an African Descendent man and woman, between 25 and 30 years of age. The images were digitally altered to create asymmetries (tooth wear) in the left maxillary central incisor in increments of 0.5 mm and 1.0 mm. After a pilot study and sample calculation, the final images were randomly assembled in a photograph album that was evaluated by 47 orthodontists and 47 laypersons. Each evaluator was asked to assess the attractiveness of the images individually, with the use of visual analog scales. The data collected were statistically analyzed, with the Analysis of Variance with Tukey post-test, and the unpaired Student’st test.

Results: The most attractive images were those without asymmetries, and the most unattractive were those with asymmetries of 1.0 mm. In general, for both groups of evaluators, the larger the asymmetry was, the less attractive were the images.

Conclusion: The presence of maxillary central incisors edges asymmetries directly affected the dentofacial esthetic appearance at repose.

Keywords: Dental esthetics, Asymmetry, Orthodontics.