Preference for different lip positions in a Turkish population

Abstract


 Aim: This study evaluated the preferences for different lip positions among dental students, dentists, laypersons, and patients.
 Methodology: Average female and male silhouette profiles were constructed from published soft tissue data for the Turkish population. The lips in each average profile were protruded or retruded in 2 mm increments with respect to Ricketts’ E-line. Five images were created from the average profile and arranged randomly. Then, 54 dental students, 55 dentists, 46 laypersons, and 60 orthodontic patients were asked to rate each silhouette profile from 1 (least attractive) to 10 (most attractive). The independent t-test was used to analyze the effect of gender on preference and one-way analysis of variance was used to determine whether there were differences among the groups.
 
 Results: The dentists favored profile ‘a’ (+2 mm protruded), while the other groups favored profile ‘e’ (average profile) in both sexes. Profile ‘d’ was the least favored profile, except in the dentists group. For the dental students, profile ‘d’ was the least favored of the male profiles and ‘c’ was the least favored of the female profiles. There were significant differences among the groups when assessing male profiles ‘a’, ‘c’ (p<0.01), and ‘b’ (p<0.05).
 
 Conclusion: The average profile image was favoured and the image that showed slight (+2 mm) lip protrusion was preferred second. All rater groups tolerated changes of ±2 mm with respect to the average lip position.