Dental Aesthetics: A Study Comparing Patients’ Own Opinions with Those of Dentists

Abstract

Objective: A beautiful smile is perceived as important but the components that contribute to the patient's concept of a beautiful smile have not been fully investigated. Hence this study aimed to compare the views of patients on their own dental aesthetics with those of a group of dentists. It also assessed the patients' willingness to undergo aesthetic treatment. Methods: Fifty patients, who ranged in age from 24 to 76 years, completed self-assessment questionnaires. Photographs were taken of these patients, which were subsequently assessed by six dentists using a questionnaire with visual analogue scale to assess each parameter. Results: Significant differences (p < 0.05) were found between the opinions of the dentists and the patients. Older patients were generally more satisfied with their smile than the dentists. Eighty-six percent of the patients were willing to undergo aesthetic treatment, although factors such as the complexity of treatment, time involved, discomfort and financial costs, deterred many. The cost of treatment was the main deterrent. The younger patients were least likely to be put off treatment. Conclusion: Patients' views of their own smile differed from the dentists' opinion. Those who were the least satisfied and were most likely to undergo aesthetic treatment were in the younger age groups. Satisfaction increased with age and older patients were less likely to seek the aesthetic treatment.

The influence of elastomeric ligatures pigmentation on smile aesthetics during orthodontic treatment

“…The aesthetic importance of the smile has been extensively discussed in the literature. 2,[17][18][19] Orthodontics, a dental specialty that works directly with smile aesthetics, requires continuous updating of its material collection to keep up with the demands of the overall population. 4,5,[20][21][22][23][24] Therefore, testing the color change of elastomeric ligatures is required to guide orthodontists seeking to respect the decision of patients desiring an aesthetic smile even during orthodontic treatment.…”

“…The aesthetic importance of the smile has been extensively discussed in the literature. 2 , 17 - 19 Orthodontics, a dental specialty that works directly with smile aesthetics, requires continuous updating of its material collection to keep up with the demands of the overall population. 4 , 5 , 20 - 24 …”

The Divine Proportion’s Incidence in Facial and Dental Aesthetics

“…In the specialised literature there are concrete information about the realization of aesthetic dental treatment such as: measurements, angles, electronic systems for previewing the future appearance, systems used in collaboration with the laboratory of dental technique (digital fingerprint of the oral cavity, CAD / CAM). There are, also, many evasive information about issues such as the exposure of various artworks to understanding the phenomena of contrast, luminosity, shadows, symmetry (Demir, Oktay, & Topcu, 2017;Yu, Cheng, Zhou, & Cheng, 2017), (Moon & Millar, 2017). Our study enters this new direction of investigation.…”

Patients’ preferences in dental care: A discrete-choice experiment and an analysis of willingness-to-pay

“…Further analysis of the cost attribute revealed that willingness-to-pay per participants decreases with increasing age. Reduced incomes at an older age (e.g., pension), expensive treatments, or a reduced awareness of aesthetically high-quality as well as prioritization of functionality could be a reason [69][70][71]. Presumably, the older the patient, the more intentional the dentist is in communicating that a dental crown is possibly the last and only alternative for tooth preservation [72].…”