Assessment of Dental Appearance Following Changes in Incisor Angulation

Purpose: This study evaluated the assessment of attractiveness of standardized changes in incisor angulation of different tooth arrangements. Materials and Methods:Four sets of images showing the maxillary anterior teeth without lips against a black background were used for evaluation. Each set contained the original photograph, one computer-manipulated symmetric image, and four images with different standardized changes in incisor angulation (10 degrees). The judges, consisting of three groups (30 dental students, 30 medical students, 30 art students), ranked each photo set for attractiveness from 1 (most attractive) to 6 (most unattractive). Results: The mean ranking (in parentheses) showed that symmetric teeth with ideal axes (2.5) and changes in the angulation of one (2.8) or both (2.5) lateral incisors were significantly more attractive than the angulation of one (4.2) or both (4.6) central incisors. There were no differences between the groups of participants. All findings were reproducible. Conclusion: Tooth arrangements showing central incisors with ideal axes were more attractive. Slight changes in the angulation of one or both lateral incisors did not influence attractiveness negatively.