Original Article

Year : 2017 | Volume : 8 | Issue : 3 | Page : 96-100

Perception of smile attractiveness toward various forms of anterior diastemas among undergraduate dental and nondental students: A questionnaire-based study

Siham Arezki Houacine, Elhadi Mohieldin Awooda

Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan

Correspondence Address:

Elhadi Mohieldin Awooda

Department of Conservative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Medical Sciences and Technology, P. O. Box 12810, Khartoum, Sudan

Abstract:

Background:

Smiling is the evident component of facial attractiveness. Midline diastema is considered in some cultures as unattractive and as a malocclusion, especially in Western countries while it is considered as a sign of beauty in Africa and Middle-East.

Aim:

The aim of this study is to compare the smile attractiveness perception of dental and nondental students toward anterior diastemas and to determine whether all spaces in the esthetic zone are considered unattractive as midline diastema.

Materials and Methods:

This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among 156 dental and pharmacy students from the University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sudan, from December 2015 to January 2016. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the participants and it consisted of two parts: part one – related to gender, faculty, educational level, and questions about dental diastema, and part two – containing four modified pictures of a young female's smile modified by photoediting software to create different spaces between anterior teeth (midline, Simian, Frush and Fisher, and Lombardi diastema). Participants were asked to rank the pictures according to attractiveness from the most to the least attractive using visual analog scale. Comparison between variables was made by Chi-square test with P < 0.05.

Results:

Smile attractiveness from the most to the least attractive was Simian > Frush and Fisher > midline > Lombardi among both dental and pharmacy students. Gender and presence of diastema had no relation with the student's perception (P > 0.05). There was a significant statistical difference between dental and pharmacy students regarding Frush and Fisher diastema (P = 0.034). Most of the students with diastema felt shy when smiling.

Conclusions:

The location and width of diastema had an important role on the attractiveness perception of dental diastemas. Midline diastema was not a gap with the most negative perception

Source of Support: 

None

Conflict of Interest: 

None

DOI: 10.4103/ijor.ijor_7_17

How to cite this article: Houacine SA, Awooda EM. Perception of smile attractiveness toward various forms of anterior diastemas among undergraduate dental and nondental students: A questionnaire-based study. Int J Orthod Rehabil 2017;8:96-100.