Smile Arc Esthetics in Middle-Aged Man from the Layperson’s Perspective Via Eye-Tracking

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the perceptions of smile esthetics associated with variations in the vertical plane of the maxillary incisors in the smile arc using eye-tracking software. Material and Methods: An image of a 59-year-old Caucasian male model was adapted and edited to make three changes in the vertical plane, simulating a convex, straight, and reverse smile arc. Four areas of interest were inserted at the right and left eyes, nose, and mouth. Forty laypeople raters between 18 and 45 years of age participated of the study. Eye-tribe hardware and Ogama software were used to perform eye-tracking. Attractiveness and ageperception questions were also incorporated into the study. ANOVA test and Pearson's correlation coefficient, at p < 0.05. Results: The most observed AOI in images with convex, straight, and reverse smiles, as assessed using heatmaps and point maps, was the mouth, followed by the right eye. A significant difference for the eye (p=0.02) was found when comparing convex and reverse smiles, whereas a significant difference for the mouth was observed between the straight and reverse smiles (p=0.03). Conclusion: Convex and straight smile arcs were associated with equal levels of attractiveness; the reverse smile was less attractive. No significant difference was noticed regarding age perception and the smile arcs. However, the reverse smile recorded a more complete fixation time.

An eye-tracking and questionnaire study of how facial pigmentation spot are perceived by laypeople

“…Adolescents are shown to place great importance on dental appearance (Phillips & Beal, 2009), and healthy, wellgroomed teeth were important in appearance (Grzywacz, 2003), as an adolescent's self-perception of attractiveness level for the dentofacial region was an important factor which contributed to their self-esteem. (Badran, 2010) Further, in the present study, the presence of pigmentation spots was in the background, and one of the reasons may be the fact that teeth alignment in a smile consonant with high levels of attractiveness (Tanaka et al, 2022).…”