Perception of Buccal Corridor Space on Smile Aesthetics among Specialty Dentist and Layperson

The aim of this study was to assess and compare the perception of smiles with and without buccal corridor spaces (BCSs) among prosthodontists, orthodontists and laypersons on smile aesthetics.

Smiling photographs of subjects with wide BCSs were collected and digitally manipulated to eliminate the BCSs. Digitally altered and unaltered photographs were placed together and assessed for aesthetic appeal using visual analog scale of one to ten by prosthodontists, orthodontists, and laypersons. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and two-way ANOVA were applied to evaluate the collected data using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 22), Epi Info 6.0, and GraphPad Prism, version 6.0.

The total mean value scores of smiles with BCSs were significantly higher than those of smiles without BCSs (P < 0.001). Orthodontists and prosthodontists significantly appreciated BCSs and graded the smiles with BCSs to be much more attractive (P > 0.005). Laypersons rated the smiles with BCSs with greater mean values, but the difference in mean values of smiles with and without BCSs was not significant (P < 0.005). No significant difference was found between the perceptions of prosthodontists and orthodontists.

The results of this study reveal that the smiles with BCSs were notably more desirable than the smiles without BCSs. Laypersons, orthodontists, and prosthodontists evaluated smiles differently. The smiles with BCSs were appraised much more pleasing by prosthodontists and orthodontists. Laypersons could not significantly appreciate BCSs, but rated smiles with BCSs as more acceptable.