A comparison of providers' and consumers' perceptions of facial-profile attractiveness

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the perception of facial attractiveness in profile digital photographs that were incrementally altered to produce different combinations of mandibular anteroposterior positions and lower anterior facial heights. The specific aims were to determine whether there is concordance between providers and consumers in their perceptions of facial attractiveness, and to evaluate whether interactions of the anteroposterior and vertical dimensions and the magnitude of these interactions influence perception of facial attractiveness. Methods: Profile digital photographs and cephalograms of 3 men and 3 women were used. The position of the jaw was altered incrementally with Dolphin imaging equipment (Dolphin Imaging and Management, Chatsworth, Calif), and booklets were created. One hundred raters (50 laypersons, 25 oral surgeons, 25 orthodontists) scored the profiles on a visual analog scale. All images were duplicated to test intrarater reliability. Factorial ANOVA with repeated measures and the Tukey-Kramer post-hoc test for multiple comparisons were used to test for differences in facial attractiveness. The level of significance was set at .05 (P = .05) for all analyses. Results: Intrarater reliability was good (ICC = 0.71), and general concordance was found between providers and consumers in their perceptions of facial attractiveness. Interactions of the anteroposterior and vertical dimensions and the magnitude of change in each dimension influence the perception of facial attractiveness. Conclusions: The results suggest that preferences of facial attractiveness by laypersons, orthodontists, and oral surgeons in central Ohio are generally in agreement. This information might assist clinicians in treatment planning and making recommendations.