Perception of dental professionals and lay persons to altered mandibular incisors crowding

Perceptions of dental professionals and laypeople to altered maxillary incisor crowding

“…10,12,15,20,25 Our findings show that of 4 groups of evaluators, the ORT were the most perceptive when it came to crowding of the maxillary incisors as seen from the front of the patient. The LNO group was the least sensitive to crowding of the maxillary teeth.…”

“…Of course, it may also be that this group sought orthodontic treatment when they were more aware of the disadvantages of irregular teeth. 20 The results show that in all 4 groups of assessors, 1 irregular tooth was more noticeable than were 2 irregular bilateral teeth of the same type. It may be somewhat of a weakness of the LII that an irregularity of a specific value is more noticeable when it affects 1 tooth than when the same LII value is calculated from multiple teeth.…”

“…24 When evaluating mandibular incisor crowding, it appears that the central incisors are more important esthetically than are the adjacent lateral incisors. 20 In our study, the ORT group was unhappy with 1.5 mm of central incisor crowding and 2.0 mm of lateral incisor crowding. The GD group appeared to be less concerned with the incisor irregularity produced in our study.…”

“…21 It would appear that orthodontists are more critical than other groups when evaluating the misalignment of the mandibular incisors as judged from an occlusal view. 20 To date, there does not seem to be a study that has tested the sensitivity of orthodontists and others to maxillary incisor crowding as measured with the LII.…”

“…[10][11][12] Previous research dealing with smile esthetics has focused on buccal corridor spaces, 12 anatomy, [14][15][16] smile arcs, 17 maxillary incisor proportions, 18,19 and mandibular crowding. 20 At least 1 earlier study evaluated the perceptions of orthodontists and laypeople with respect to varying degrees of mandibular incisor crowding as measured with Little's irregularity index (LII). 21 It would appear that orthodontists are more critical than other groups when evaluating the misalignment of the mandibular incisors as judged from an occlusal view.…”