Correlation Of Lip Shape And Type Of Smile In The Perception Of Aesthetics In Patients Between 18-30 Years - A Photographic Study

Abstract

Smile is characterized by upward curving of the corners of the mouth, indicates
pleasure and plays an important role in social interactions. The study was done to
assess the relation between the shape of lips, type of smile and their effect in the
perception of aesthetic between the age group of 18-30 years. The study was designed
to be a photographic analysis of smiles of 70 subjects between 18-30 years. The study
was done in Saveetha Dental College, Chennai, India during the time frame of
March-April 2020. The study analyzed the type of smile, the shape of the lips and the
smile line and its influence on the smile esthetics. An esthetic score was given to the
patient on a score from 1-5, five being excellent and 1 being poor. These results were
correlated to understand their influence on each other. Descriptive statistics was used
to measure frequency and Pearson’s correlation was performed to analyses the
correlation. Moderately arched lips(53%), medium smile line(66.7%) and both
Cuspid and commissural type(40%) of smile showed association with the highest
grade of smile esthetics. There is a negligible correlation between smile line and
esthetic score, low positive correlation of type of smile with the perceived esthetics,
and negative correlation between shape of smile and esthetics (-0.22). The esthetics
of smile depends on the peri oral structures as much as it depends on the teeth and
associated structures. Development of an index to incorporate the aspects of lips and
face in the quantification of esthetic score would best enable to obtain a wholesome
picture and also allows standardized comparisons. Further research is encouraged.