Abstract
INTRODUCTION: In addition to understanding the basic standards of a smile and patient's opinion, dentists should take into account smile aesthetics, an essential factor for optimal outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate the factors that affect the perception of an aesthetic smile and determine its morphological characteristics and measure the gingival aesthetic parameters. METHODS: In all, 200 Vietnamese aged 18-35 years were recruited to have their spontaneous smiles captured. These smile images were assessed by 50 laypersons and 50 dentists using a visual analogue scale measurement. The images were analysed to evaluate perceptions of evaluators, determine smile attractiveness, and measure gingival aesthetics. RESULTS: The difference in the judgements of laypersons and dentists, males and females, and laypersons aged 18-25 and 26-35 years were nonsignificant. High or average anterior smile line, parallel smile arc, upward upper lip curvature, second premolars as the posterior-most teeth displayed, smile index of 5.23-5.63, and dynamic smile symmetry of 1 were scored highly on smile attractiveness. The following maxillary gingival aesthetic parameters were preferred: gingival zenith (GZ) of the canine 0.72-0.75 mm apical to the GZ of the central incisor; GZ of the lateral incisor 0.66 mm coronal to the gingival line; gingival line angle of ∼87°; for the central incisor, lateral incisor, and canines, distance from the GZ to the long axis of 1, 0.4, and 0 mm, respectively; interdental papilla height of 4.25, 3.60, and 3.85 mm, respectively; ratio of the distance from the GZ and the interdental papilla tip to the incisal edge of ∼1.74-1.77 mm. CONCLUSIONS: Factors including profession, gender, and age of evaluators had almost no impact on their perception of aesthetics. Smile attractiveness characteristics and gingival aesthetic parameters have clinical applicability for patient care.