Relación entre plenitud labial y atractivo percibido en fotos de perfil

Abstract

Introduction: differences in lip form, position and fullness determine the differences in the aesthetic perception for both dentists and patients. The objective of this study was to analyse the differences in the perceived attractiveness of lips in profile pictures according to Ricketts lip protrusion. Material and mehod: a PowerPoint presentation with 31 slides of protruded, retruded and normal lips according to Ricketts standards (no age correction was performed) was prepared as well as aesthetic evaluation questionnaires for those lips. 120 evaluators: 20 orthodontists, 20 orthodontic students, 20 general dentists, 20 plastic surgeons, 20 dental patients in the waiting room and 20 laypersons (not undergoing dental treatment at the moment of the study) were asked to evaluate each lip from 1 to 10 on a Visual Analogue Scale. An ANOVA was performed for the statistics (both for evaluator type and for lip type). Results: protruded lips got were better scores than retruded ones in the whole sample (p<0.05). Split into groups, differences disappeared, but for plastic surgeons, where protruded lips were preferred to normal lips, and those were also preferred to retruded lips (<0.01). There were no statistically significant differences between sexes (p>0.05). Conclusion: protrusive lips are better rated than retrusive ones. Plastic surgeons preferred protrusive lips to normal lips and those to retruded ones.