title: Effects of Three Types of Digital Camera Sensors on Dental Specialists' Perception of Smile Esthetics: A Preliminary Double-Blind Clinical Trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The effect of image quality or dental specialties on the subjective judgment of facial beauty has not been evaluated in any study. This study assessed the effect of digital sensors and specialties on the perception of smile beauty.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the first phase of this double-blind clinical trial, 40 female smile photographs (taken from dental students) were evaluated by a panel of three prosthodontists, six orthodontists, and three specialists in restorative dentistry to select the most beautiful smiles. In the second phase, the 20 students having the most appealing smiles were again photographed in standard conditions, but this time with three different digital sensors: full-frame 21.1-megapixel, half-frame 18.0-megapixel, and compact 10.4-megapixel. The same panel judged smile beauty on a visual analog scale. The referees were blinded to the type of sensors, and the images were all coded. The data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U tests (α = 0.05 and 0.0167).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean scores for full-frame, half-frame, and compact sensors were 6.70 ± 1.30, 4.56 ± 1.29, and 4.40 ± 1.39 [out of 10], respectively (Kruskal-Wallis p < 0.0001). The differences between the full-frame and the other sensors were statistically significant (Mann-Whitney p < 0.01); however, the difference between the half-frame and compact sensors was not statistically significant (p > 0.1). Sensors (ANOVA p < 0.00001) but not specialties (p = 0.687) affected the perception of beauty.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  According to the results of this study, image quality affected the perception of smile beauty. The full-frame sensor produced consistently better results and was recommended over half-frame and compact sensors. Dentists of different specialties might have similar standards of smile beauty, although this needs further assessment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Hadi
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Sajjadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Behnam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Khosravanifard
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Dental Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Moazzami
authors.affiliation: Iranian Tissue Bank and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Dental Anatomy and Morphology, Dental Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rakhshan
authors.affiliation: Dentist in Private Practice, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mozhgan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esmaeilpour
mesh_terms: D003815:Dentists; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva; D006801:Humans; D009970:Orthodontics; D023861:Photography, Dental; D012904:Smiling; D013038:Specialization
keywords: Digital photography; digital sensors; operative dentistry; orthodontics; prosthodontics; smile beauty