Analysis of the esthetic preferences of Spanish laypersons and dentists regarding the different width proportions of the maxillary anterior teeth.

Statement Of Problem: Multiple esthetic width proportions have been described for maxillary anterior teeth. However, the esthetic characteristics of each have not been compared simultaneously to determine which proportion is preferred by dentists and laypersons.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preferences of dentists and laypersons with respect to internationally recognized dental esthetic proportions. It also sought to determine whether a relationship existed among dentists' preferences as per their specialty and among laypersons as per their academic field.

Material And Methods: Two smile images, one male and one female, were digitally modified to meet the golden proportion and the recurring esthetic dental (70%) and golden percentage. The 2 resulting sets of images (original images and digitally altered ones) were presented to dentists and laypersons through a Web-based survey site. The Pearson chi-squared and Fisher tests were used to assess the differences in the esthetic preferences among the groups (α=.05).

Results: A total of 363 answers were obtained from dentists and 750 from laypersons. Both groups considered recurring esthetic dental to be the most esthetic proportion and golden proportion to be the least esthetic proportion. The dentists' preferences as per their specialty followed the same trend, whereas the laypersons' preferences were more scattered according to their academic field. The recurring esthetic dental proportion was preferred in images of both sexes, golden proportion smiles were the least preferred for female smiles, and golden percentage was the least preferred for male smiles.

Conclusions: The results obtained indicated that the preferred esthetic proportion both for dentists and laypersons was the recurring esthetic dental 70%, with the dentists' specialty or laypersons branch of knowledge not affecting choice.