Esthetic preferences for the shape of anterior teeth in a posed smile

Although various aspects of smile esthetics have been considered in many studies, few of them have compared laypeople's preferences for an esthetic smile with regard to the shape of the anterior teeth. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the shapes of the maxillary anterior teeth in men and women on the perception of an esthetic smile by different age and sex groups of laypeople.

Two pamphlets, each consisting of 9 smile images that differed only in the shapes of the canines and incisors, were shown to 4 groups of judges of different ages and sexes. They were asked to rank feminine and masculine smile images according to their preferences using a 10-cell linear horizontal visual analog scale.

Neither in the men's nor in the women's pamphlets were there significant differences between the scores of the 4 groups of judges to the various tooth forms. In both pamphlets, regardless of canine shape, all groups of judges gave significantly different scores to square, square-round, and round incisors so that the median of scores for square incisors was significantly lower than those of the 2 other incisor forms.

Sex and age of the laypersons did not affect their esthetic perception of the shapes of the maxillary anterior teeth. Incisor shape was the key determinant of their esthetic preferences; round incisors were the most esthetic. It is recommended to improve smile esthetics by mildly rounding the mesial and distal corners of square incisors.