Smile microesthetics as perceived by dental professionals and laypersons.

Objectives: To evaluate and compare the perception of different dental professionals and laypersons toward altered gingival characteristics (microesthetics) and to identify those characteristics that are most negatively and positively rated.

Materials And Methods: A smiling photograph of a female dental student was selected and digitally manipulated to create changes in different microesthetic parameters. These altered images were rated by the following five groups: 120 orthodontists, 45 periodontists, 49 prosthodontists, 130 general dentists, and 172 laypersons.