Esthetic Preferences of Orthodontists, general dentists, and Laypersons for Indian facial profiles: A cross-sectional study

Aim: To compare the perceptions of a group of orthodontists, general dentists, and laypersons about the attractiveness of Indian facial profiles.
Data collection: A visual analog scale (VAS) along with a question about surgical correction opinion was given to 18 orthodontists, 18 general dentists, and 18 laypersons to score (1-5) from least to most attractive.
Statistical analysis: Spearman’s rank correlation was computed to assess correlation, ANOVA followed by post hoc Tukey analysis to compare the mean scores, and Chi-square to determine the opinion about surgical treatment.
Interpretation: There was an overall weak negative correlation between the three groups which indicates that orthodontists attributed lower pleasantness scores to almost all the altered female and male facial profiles. Additionally, statistically significantly lower mean scores were attributed by orthodontists to many female profiles and few male facial profiles. More orthodontists identified the need for surgical correction for a few severely distorted profiles but there was a statistically non-significant difference among the groups for most of the profiles.