| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3116788 | American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics | 2014 | 4 Pages |
IntroductionPhysical attributes, behavior, and personal ornaments exert a direct influence on how a person's beauty and personality are judged. The aim of this study was to investigate how people who wear a fixed orthodontic appliance see themselves and are seen by others in social settings.MethodsA total of 60 adults evaluated their own smiling faces in 3 different scenarios: without a fixed orthodontic appliance, wearing a metal fixed orthodontic appliance, and wearing an esthetic fixed orthodontic appliance. Furthermore, 15 adult raters randomly assessed the same faces in standardized front-view facial photographs. Both the subjects and the raters answered a questionnaire in which they evaluated criteria on a numbered scale ranging from 0 to 10. The models judged their own beauty, and the raters assigned scores to beauty, age, intelligence, ridiculousness, extroversion, and success.ResultsThe self-evaluations showed decreased beauty scores (P <0.0001) when a fixed orthodontic appliance, especially a metal one, was being worn. There was no statistically significant difference between the 3 situations in the 6 criteria analyzed.ConclusionsA fixed orthodontic appliance did not affect how personal attributes are assessed. However, fixed orthodontic appliances apparently changed the subjects' self-perceptions when they looked in the mirror.
