When the Silence Speaks: The Smile

Abstract

Background: Understanding the importance, value and self-image that the smile represents in the daily life of the individual remains a subject of high scientific interest. Aim: The present qualitative and exploratory study aims at understanding the importance of the self-perception of the mouth and smile on the mental representation of self-image and the well-being of the individual. Materials and Methods: The convenience sample consisted of 151 children and youngsters of both genders, ages 8-24 years, who used an orthodontic appliance and were invited to draw two portraits of their mouth/smile. Results: The results suggest differences in the mental representation of the mouth and the smile, namely in the investment of the drawings before and after the use of the orthodontic appliance, as well as in the expressiveness and manifestation of emotions. Discussion and Conclusions: The results suggest that the main reason that leads participants to the treatment is related to aesthetic and functional issues in which the maximizing of the mental representation of the Orthodontic Smile emerges as a new categorization of the perfect smile.

Orthodontic Smile: A New Categorization of the Perfect Smile

“…The methodological strategy was of the qualitative kind, through the content analysis of a collection of drawings made by patients, combined with quantitative parameters. Following the methodology of a research project realized by Do Rosário Dias et al, [1] the convenience sample consisted of 151 children and youngsters of both genders, ages 8-24 years, who used an orthodontic appliance for 6 months (6 M) to 1 year (1 Y) and who were treated at the (Egas Moniz University Clinic Portugal (1)). Patients were invited to produce two self-portraits of their mouth/smile based on the following questions: (1)" What was your mouth like before you had the orthodontic appliance?"…”

“…[10,11] As a criterion of objectivity, patients were asked to portray in their drawings only the mouth/smile and no other parts of the face, thus centering the object of empirical analysis on the smile. [1,12] To proceed to the statistical analysis of the obtained data, the theoretical assumption of Sawyer et al [14] as well that of Pikunas [15] was followed, and the sample was divided into four childhood and adolescence age groups: (i) "children" (8-12 years); (ii) "preteens" (13-14 years); (iii) "adolescents" (15-17 years), and (iv) "emerging adults" (18-24 years).…”

“…In fact, the esthetic determination and attractiveness of the smile are very important in the orthodontic field, as they seem to play a more relevant and determining motivational treatment role than functional factors. [11,12] Nonetheless, according to an empirical study conducted at the Egas Moniz-Lisbon University Clinic by Do Rosário Dias et al, [1] the functional factor for orthodontic treatment motivation was greater than the aesthetic factor. Still, there is a shortage of empirical studies that combine the problem of malocclusion to the patient's esthetic perception of the face [13] having into consideration the patient's psychosocial context.…”

“…Understanding the importance of a smile in the daily life of individuals remains a subject of high scientific interest. [1] In a clinical context, the "art of the smile" resides in the Dentist's ability to recognize the positive beauty elements in each patient and to create a strategy that enhances the attributes that fall outside the parameters of the prevailing esthetic concept. [2] In that sense, several authors have made contributions to the classifications of the smile.…”

Is the Orthodontic Smile Considered as Aesthetic in Adult Patients?

“…Understanding the importance of smiling in terms of the intrapsychic perception (mental representation) of the individual's self-image, in the context of established interpersonal relationships, is a highly scientific topic [1][2][3]. The face is the area of the human body where emotions seem to be externalized, consciously or unconsciously, through facial expressions.…”