Francisco Wilker Mustafa Gomes Muniz1, Denise Juaçaba Cavalcante2, Maria Mônica Studart Mendes Moreira3, Lidiany Karla Azevedo Rodrigues4, Carlos Augusto de Oliveira Fernandes4, Paulo César de Almeida5, Rosimary de Sousa Carvalho3. 1. Post-Graduate Program in Dentistry, Federal University Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 2. Student Fellow, School of Pharmacy, Dentistry and Nursing, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. 3. Professor of Periodontology, School of Pharmacy, Dentistry and Nursing, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. 4. Professor of Operative Dentistry, School of Pharmacy, Dentistry and Nursing, Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. 5. Professor of the Post-Graduate program in Nursing, Nutrition and Health, State University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze which facial, gingival and dental characteristics are associated with confidence in smiling among 75 subjects seeking treatment in a northern Brazilian public dental university. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical examinations and three standardized photographs of each subject were taken by one trained examiner. In addition, a questionnaire was applied to assess confidence in smiling. The subjects were dichotomized into two groups, non-confident (n = 36) and confident (n = 39) in smiling. Chi-square/Fischer exact test were used to associate the facial, gingival and dental characteristics between groups. RESULTS: The subjects that reported to be non-confident in smiling were statistically associated with smile type (p = 0.030) and wrongly positioned teeth (p = 0.047). On the other hand, gender (p = 0.491), marital status (p = 0.217), gum pigmentation (p = 0.930), midline (p = 0.176), volume of the upper (p = 0.380), and lower (p = 0.615) lips were not associated with self-reported confidence in smiling. CONCLUSION: In patients seeking dental treatment in a public dental university, non-confidence in smiling was associated only with some oral and intraoral characteristics and not with demographic characteristics. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study showed that only smile type and wrongly positioned teeth were statistically associated with confidence in smiling. Dentists should pay attention to those intraoral characteristics, but the clinical decision making should always include the patients' perception. (J Esthet Restor Dent 29:E56-E66, 2017).
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to analyze which facial, gingival and dental characteristics are associated with confidence in smiling among 75 subjects seeking treatment in a northern Brazilian public dental university. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Clinical examinations and three standardized photographs of each subject were taken by one trained examiner. In addition, a questionnaire was applied to assess confidence in smiling. The subjects were dichotomized into two groups, non-confident (n = 36) and confident (n = 39) in smiling. Chi-square/Fischer exact test were used to associate the facial, gingival and dental characteristics between groups. RESULTS: The subjects that reported to be non-confident in smiling were statistically associated with smile type (p = 0.030) and wrongly positioned teeth (p = 0.047). On the other hand, gender (p = 0.491), marital status (p = 0.217), gum pigmentation (p = 0.930), midline (p = 0.176), volume of the upper (p = 0.380), and lower (p = 0.615) lips were not associated with self-reported confidence in smiling. CONCLUSION: In patients seeking dental treatment in a public dental university, non-confidence in smiling was associated only with some oral and intraoral characteristics and not with demographic characteristics. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: This study showed that only smile type and wrongly positioned teeth were statistically associated with confidence in smiling. Dentists should pay attention to those intraoral characteristics, but the clinical decision making should always include the patients' perception. (J Esthet Restor Dent 29:E56-E66, 2017).