Influence of gingival display on smile attractiveness assessed by Saudi Arabian laypersons and dental professionals

Abstract

This study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of changes in the gingival display of the maxillary teeth on smile attractiveness assessed by Saudi Arabian dental professionals and laypeople. A total of 138 dental professional and 182 laypeople rated the attractiveness of male and female smiles in a computerized survey. A smiling photograph of a male and a female dental students were selected and digitally manipulated to create changes the amount of gingival display from 4 mm of gingival display to 4mm of gingival covered by the upper lip in 1 mm increments. Each photo was accompanied by a visual analog scale (VAS) for rating. Among dental professionals, 61% rated the female photo with a 1-mm low lip line as the most attractive smile (VAS score ± SE, 7.3 ± 3.18), while 52.7% of laypeople considered the smile with a 2-mm low lip line as the most attractive (6.7 ± 3.4). Regarding male smile photos, 61.6% of dental professionals found the 1-mm low lip line the most attractive (7.3 ± 3.18). The same rating was given by 48.3% of laypeople (6.1 ± 3.6) (p ≤ 0.009). The least attractive smile photo was the smile showing 4 mm of gingiva for male and female smiles. More than half of the laypeople believed that an attractive smile highly affects social life and communication. The Saudi Arabian population appears to be sensitive to the amount of gingival display. The difference in female smile assessment between dental professionals and laypeople highlights the importance of dentist-patient consensus regarding decisions for esthetic treatments. Esthetic treatment is of a major concern for both dentist and patient. The careful assessment of smile pillars including gingival display must be tailored to each patient.

Laypersons' Assessment of Smile Esthetics in Young Individuals in Ha'il, Saudi Arabia

“…In this study, smiles characterized by average or low anterior smile lines were rated as more attractive across genders. This is consistent with findings from Saudi studies, where smiles showing more maxillary gingiva were rated as the least attractive [ 16 , 17 , 19 , 29 ]. Such findings also align with earlier studies indicating that excessive gingival display compromises esthetics [ 8 , 12 , 30 - 35 ].…”

“…The published studies in Saudi Arabia to explore the impact of smile characteristics on smile attractiveness were limited. These studies were conducted through a different methodology, none of them used dynamic smile analysis [16][17][18][19]. Therefore, this study was conducted to fill this gap.…”