Patients' and dentists' perception of dental appearance.

The purpose of this study was to compare the patients' and dentists' perception of dental appearance. Based on internationally accepted guidelines about dental esthetics, a questionnaire was developed to measure "dental appearance" (QDA). Eleven items defined a QDA sum score (0 = "absolutely satisfied", 44 = "absolutely dissatisfied"). The QDA was completed by 16 patients (eight women, eight men, mean age 63 ± 9 years) before and after a complete oral rehabilitation. Forty-two dentists evaluated the esthetics before and after rehabilitation on a visual analog scale (VAS, 0 = "absolutely unesthetic", 100 = "absolutely esthetic"). The patients' quoting showed a significant esthetic improvement (QDA sum score) from 22 before treatment to 3.5 after treatment (P ≤ 0.001). Although most of the dentists judged an improvement in most of the patients dental appearances, no significant correlation could be found between patients' and dentists' judgment regarding dental appearance (r = -0.13-0.53, P > 0.05). When evaluating the influence of age, gender, and experience on rating dental appearance, no significant differences (P > 0.05) could be found.