Study of the morpho-dimensional relationship between the maxillary central incisors and the face

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of agreement between the shape of the maxillary central incisor (MCI) and that of the face; verify which is the most pleasing MCI shape for the two genders; whether there is coincidence in the preference for tooth shape; and measure the most pleasant proportion of tooth and facial width for the esthetics of the smile. One hundred patients were selected from among front view photographs of the face and smile. The photographs were evaluated to determine the shape of the face and the type of dental contour, the pleasant appearance of the set consisting of the teeth and facial features. The widths of the MCIs and the face were measured and the proportional values were associated with the evaluators' opinions with regard to the pleasant appearance of the set of facial features. There was a significant association between the shape of the face and the MCI (Bowker's test, p = 0.0015). There is a relationship between the shape of the MCI and the shape of the face, with a greater prevalence of the oval shape of the teeth and face; it was not possible to associate the pleasant appearance of the shape of teeth with gender; there was no agreement on the pleasant appearance of the shape of teeth in the photographs of the patient smiling and in the images of the smile; and there was no relationship between the pleasant appearance of the face and the dentofacial proportion and bizygomatic width.