Contribution of facial components to the attractiveness of the smiling face in male and female patients: A cross-sectional correlation study

Abstract

Esthetic improvement is a key motivator in undergoing orthodontic treatment. This study aims to quantify the contribution of the smile and other facial components to the overall esthetics of attractiveness. The attractiveness of 60 subjects (30 men, 30 women), aged 18-35years, before orthodontic treatment, was retrospectively evaluated by 8 laypersons using the Visual Analog Scale. Pearson and stepwise correlations were calculated between the attractiveness of the smiling face and the attractiveness of facial components; namely the smile, nose, eyes, hair, chin, eyebrows, and skin. A strong correlation between the face and smile attractiveness was found (r=0.71) for the whole sample. No significant correlations were found between attractiveness and the other facial components. When divided by gender, the smile (r=0.70) and the eyes (r=0.51) correlated with the attractiveness of the smiling face for men. For women, the face registered a significant correlation with the smile (r=0.83) and the skin (r=0.37). In general, smile attractiveness was strongly correlated with the attractiveness of the smiling face, which is the only significant component. For men, the smile was responsible for 49% of the variation in the attractiveness of the smiling face, the eyes for 22%, and the hair for 6%. For women, 69% of the variation in facial attractiveness could be attributed to smile.