The Psychosocial Influence of Dental Esthetics in Adolescents as Judged by Peers

The Psychosocial Influence of Dental Esthetics in Adolescents as Judged by Peers By Scott T. Henson D.D.S A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2008 Thesis Director: Steven J. Lindauer, D.M.D., M.D.Sc. Professor and Chair, Department of Orthodontics The purpose of this study was to determine if dental esthetics affects the perception of adolescents regarding their peer’s social aptitude in specific areas such as athletics, popularity, leadership, and academics. Ten patient photographs (4 males, 6 females) from a private orthodontic practice in Richmond, VA were selected for inclusion in this study. The frontal smiling photographs were digitally modified with insertion of either an ideal smile (straight) or a non-ideal smile (crooked) to create an image identical to the original except for an altered dental complex. Laypersons rated the straight and crooked patient photographs for athletic performance, socialization skills (popularity), leadership, and academic performance using a 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS). Picture ratings were analyzed using a repeated-measures mixed-model analysis vii (SAS version 9.1, SAS Institute, Cary NC). On average, the differences due to crooked vs. straight were consistent in that patients with straight teeth were always rated more highly than the same patients with crooked teeth. These differences were significant in ratings of perceived athletic performance (P <.05), popularity (P <.05), and leadership (P <.05), but not significant in ratings for academic performance (P >.05).