Perception of Facial Profile: How You Feel About Yourself.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine how aware the individuals were of their own profile and to compare the orthodontist's perception of an attractive facial profile with those of laypeople, dental students and orthodontic patients.


METHODS
The study comprised of a total of 200 subjects divided into four groups of 50 subjects each: Laypeople, first-year dental students, final-year dental students and orthodontic patients. Participants answered a questionnaire regarding facial profile and their expectations from orthodontic treatment. The facial profile photographs of participants were analyzed by two orthodontists separately who matched the individual to the depicted silhouettes. Agreement between participants and orthodontists was evaluated by using the statistic χ(2) test.


RESULTS
Dental students and orthodontic patients were more aware of their facial profile as compared to the laypeople. The four groups were different in their abilities to recognize their own profiles. The difference in profile perception between orthodontists and subjects was statistically significant (p < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Class I profiles were perceived to be the most attractive by all the groups and profiles with a protrusive mandible were perceived to be the least attractive. Final-year dental students and orthodontic patients were more accurate in identifying their own profile.
Professor and Head, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Mahatma Gandhi Dental College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Mridula
M
Trehan
Senior Lecturer, Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, Mahatma Gandhi Dental College and Hospital Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Zuber Ahamed
ZA
Naqvi
Principal, Mahatma Gandhi Dental College and Hospital, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
Sunil
S
Sharma
Esthetics.; Facial profile; Perception
J Craniofac Surg. 2008 Jan;19(1):251-8
18216697
Psychol Bull. 2000 May;126(3):390-423
10825783
Am J Orthod. 1982 Oct;82(4):318-28
6961804
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1992 Aug;20(4):214-20
1526107
Community Dent Oral Epidemiol. 1980;8(5):244-56
6936127
J Can Dent Assoc. 2005 Dec;71(11):849
16480599
Br J Orthod. 1980 Apr;7(2):75-80
6932969
J Am Dent Assoc. 1980 Mar;100(3):345-52
6928165
Angle Orthod. 2008 Nov;78(6):983-7
18947285
Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2005 Jun;127(6):692-9
15953894