The Perception of Ideal Facial Aesthetics Among Middle Eastern University Dental Students

Abstract

Background: The perception of facial aesthetics has been the subject of debate since ancient times and it is not considered to be absolute or fixed, rather relative. The dynamic relativity of facial aesthetics is thought to be affected by many factors, including but not limited to ethnicity, demographic variations, geographic locations, and other social backgrounds. The aim of this study was to assess the perception of ideal facial aesthetics among dental students in their preclinical and clinical years.Methods: A cross-sectional study of all dentistry students (n= 175 students) at Kuwait University Faculty of Dentistry. A morphometric questionnaire of six computer-generated 3D avatar female models with various facial features were constructed by altering the facial units: jaw shapes, chin shapes, nose shapes, mouth shapes, cheek shapes, profile shapes. Students were asked to choose the most and least preferred among the 6 avatar models.Results: A total of 149 questionnaire were completed by the students, with an overall response rate of 85.1%. The majority of students were female (92.6%). The preclinical and clinical students agreed on the most and least attractive facial model for all features except jaw shape. Students agreed that models with a broad jaw shape, moderately protruded chin with moderate height, short and less projected nose, prominent and full projected lips, prominent cheek bone with minimal buccal fat, and straight profile, were considered the most attractive faces.Conclusion: The study showed that dental students at Kuwait University have a perception of the facial esthetics that is largely in accordance with previously published studies. Dental students must recognize the variations of facial units and ideals of esthetics to better understand the demands and wishes of the patients, and thus, optimizing the treatment plan to achieve this goal.