Evaluation of the effect of lip and gingival analysis on smile aestetics

Aim: It is aimed to evaluate the effect of the differences created in the lip and gingiva on the aesthetic smile by scoring the photographs obtained by the changes applied in 5 different components related to the lip and gingiva on the study model photograph, on the Visual Analog Scale (Vas) by the participants. Method: In our study, 22 different modified photographs were obtained by using Adobe Photoshop CC 2021 (Adobe Systems, San Jose, ABD) software on the gingival level, gingival colour, upper lip curvature, interdental embrasure and smile line components on the model photograph. A questionaire was applied to the participants belonging to 10 different occupational groups determined in the field of Medicine and Dentistry via Google forms (Google Docs Editors, California, ABD). Participants were asked to categorize their gender, age, occupational group and professional experience information. A total of 284 participants scored the photographs on a Visual Analog Scale. Analysis results were presented as mean ± standard deviation and median (minimum-maximum) for quantitative data, and frequency (percent) for categorical data. Significance level was presented as p<0.05. Results: In our study, the data of the gingival level, gingival color, upper lip curvature, interdental embrasure and smile line components were compared with the participants' gender, age, occupational groups and professional experience information, and within and between groups. When we look at the frequency distributions of the participants according the gender, it is seen that 41.5 percent of the participants of men, 58.5 percent ara women. The age-related distribution of participants is 27.8 percent of them are in the 20-24 age group, 25.7 percent of them are in the 25-28 age group, 21.8 percent of them are in the 29-32 age group, 14.8 percent of them are in the 33-40 age group, 8.1 percent of them are in the 41-50 age group and 1.8 percent of them are over 51 age group. Conclusions: Althouugh there are some differences between men and women in the evaluation of smile aestheties, their perspectives are parallel to each other while younger individuals approached more detailed and critically in the evaluation of aesthetic appearance older individuals acted more tolerantly. Although there are differences in the aesthetic approach depending on age, gender, occupational group and professional experience, the most and least likes were mostly some.