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rev port estomatol med dent cir maxilofac . 2021;62(1):23-28 27

bution to the complete evaluation. 1,18,21 The present study uses attractiveness. Since aesthetics is the main reason for people to
the smiling facial photographs of orthodontic patients before look for treatment, these results are in agreement with the fact
treatment, with complete and natural dentitions, divided into that more women search for orthodontic treatment. 25,26 In wom-
parts, since smaller components have already been evaluated en, the upper two -thirds of the face was not a predictive variable
and could be more difficult for laypersons to judge. when judging global facial attractiveness.
The smile explained 50% of the variance in the smiling When judging the parts, evaluators might have noticed
face’s attractiveness, which, clinically, is very significant. The that individuals were smiling. The orbicularis oculi muscle has
correlation between the smile and the face and between the a positive effect on the face during the smile. The importance
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lower one -third and the facial attractiveness was similar, of the smile is evident. Some studies have shown that the eval-
meaning that lips and teeth are much more relevant than the uation of the smile’s attractiveness is the same in a close -up
chin when judging the face’s inferior part. Different results view and a whole -face view. 28,29 It has also been demonstrated
could have been found with other perspectives of the face. that facial attractiveness improves when the teeth are aligned,
22
Namely, Michels and Sather, using profile pictures, conclud- showing the importance of dental medicine for facial attrac-
ed that the most important parts for the evaluators were the tiveness. Orthodontic treatment is one of dentistry’s most
5
chin, the upper lip, and the nose. conservative ways to improve the smile and can especially
Other studies have shown that the smile assumes high benefit women’s attractiveness.
1,5
importance when judging facial attractiveness. Lerner and
1
Karabenick demonstrated that, for both men and women,
teeth are considered very important in judging attractiveness, Conclusions
coming in fourth and fifth place in 24 body features’ evalua-
tion. The eyes, hair, and nose, all present in the upper two- Laypersons’ judgment showed a significant correlation be-
-thirds of the face, were less important than the teeth, which tween the attractiveness of the smiling face and that of the
is in agreement with the present study. Another investigation smile (r = 0.71), the lower one -third of the face (r = 0.70), and
using frontal smiling photographs also concluded that facial the upper two -thirds of the face (r = 0.42). In males, smiling
balance and tooth alignment were more important for laymen face’s attractiveness correlated moderately with the attrac-
and orthodontists than eyes, hair, skin, and lips. 5 tiveness of the facial components. The lower third of the face
However, another study with 45 -degree smiling facial photo- explained 43% of the variance in the smiling face’s attractive-
graphs showed a different result. The teeth were less important ness and 77% when the upper two -thirds were added. In fe-
for attractiveness than other facial features like the cheekbones, males, a robust correlation was found between the attractive-
18
chin, eyes, hair, lips, nose, and skin. The facial perspective ness of the smiling face and the lower third of the face and
showed probably had some influence on the judgment because, the smile. No correlation was found between the upper two-
in social interaction, we look to each other in frontal or slightly -thirds of the face and the facial attractiveness. The smile
23
oblique views. Considering the eyes, for instance, an oblique could explain 69% of the variation in the smiling face’s attrac-
view emphasizes them more than the smile. A recent study using tiveness and 74% when the upper two -thirds were added.
eye -tracking evaluated the hierarchy of visual attention and
showed that fixations in the eyes had the largest number and
4
duration, followed by the mouth. However, in severe malocclu- Ethical disclosures
sions, the visual attention to the mouth increased, approaching
the focus on the eyes. Nonetheless, it is important to notice that Protection of human and animal subjects. The authors
being the first focused area in the face is different from being the declare that no experiments were performed on humans or
1
most important. In the study by Lerner and Karabenick, people animals for this study.

stated in questionnaires that the mouth was an important area Confidentiality of data. The authors declare that no patient
for judging facial attractiveness. Different investigations use dif-
ferent facial perspectives and different evaluation methods to data appear in this article.

measure the importance of single elements for facial attractive- Right to privacy and informed consent. The authors have
ness, making the results difficult to compare. obtained the written informed consent of the patients or sub-
When stratified by gender, differences between men and jects mentioned in the article. The corresponding author is in
women were found. In males, similar correlation values were possession of this document.
obtained for the different facial parts, but the highest correlation
was found for the lower third of the face, suggesting importance
given to the chin. Accordingly, some studies have shown that a Conflict of interest
slightly more prominent chin in males is considered more es-
thetic. 24,25 In females, a high percentage of the variance found The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
in women’s smiling face’s attractiveness (69%) could be ex-
plained by the smile only, showing the importance of the smile
for women’s attractiveness. A similar result was found by other references
authors who concluded that the smile makes women more at- 1. Lerner RM, Karabenick SA. Physical attractiveness, body
tractive but did not verify that for men. In this study, the smile attitudes, and self -concept in late adolescents. J Youth
18
was not a predictive variable for the variance in men’s facial Adolesc. 1974;3:307 -16.