The effect of asymmetrical changes in the crown lengthsof maxillary anterior teeth on aesthetic perception

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of asymmetric changes in crown length on the aesthetic perception of the participants in intraoral photographs of the maxillary anterior teeth. Materials and Methods: Standardised intraoral photographs were taken from 1 female and 1 male volunteers and were edited with the help of a computer programme. Asymmetries of 0.5 mm were created on the left central and lateral teeth by shortening the incisal edge and lengthening the gingival margin. The resulting 40 images were evaluated by participants consisting of 22 research assistant dentists, 22 5th year dentistry students and 22 lay people. These participants evaluated the aesthetics of 40 modified photographs by scoring them according to the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) on the computer screen. The scores given by the participants in the study were evaluated by Shapiro-Wilk test in terms of normality assumption (p > 0.05). The differences of the scores according to the participants in different groups and asymmetric changes were determined by one-way analysis of Variance (One-way ANOVA) and Tukey multiple comparison test. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in the ratings of the participants who rated all asymmetric changes made on the images (P<0.001). It was determined that the ratings given by the participants decreased as the asymmetric changes increased. In addition, when the ratings given for asymmetric changes were analysed, it was determined that the lowest rating was given by dentists who continue their speciality education in the department of restorative dentistry. Conclusion: It was observed that dentists who received speciality training in restorative dentistiry evaluated the aesthetic differences more sensitively and gave lower scores. However, lay individuals were found to be more positive about aesthetic evaluation of asymmetric changes than other participants. Key words: Aesthetics; Asymmetric change; Incisors; Perception