Attractiveness of Posed and Spontaneous Smiles in Orthodontic Patients: Insights from Dentists, Orthodontists, and Laypeople

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the attractiveness of the posed and spontaneous smile at the end of orthodontic treatment in the view of dentists, orthodontists, and laypersons. Methods: The sample comprised the photographs and videos of 5 orthodontically treated patients, capturing the posed and the spontaneous smiles. The smile attractiveness was judged using a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the least attractive and 10 being the most attractive. One hundred fifty-nine dentists, 191 orthodontists, and 126 laypeople of both sexes evaluated the smiles on a google forms questionnaire sent by Whatsapp. The age range of the evaluators varied from 18 to 70 years of age. A T-test was used to compare the attractiveness score between the posed and the spontaneous smiles. One-way ANOVA and Tukey tests were used to compare the attractiveness scores of the posed and spontaneous smiles between the three groups of evaluators. Results: The spontaneous smile was significantly more attractive than the posed smile, and there was no difference in the attractiveness of the posed smiles between dentists, orthodontists, and laypeople. Laypeople considered spontaneous smiles significantly more attractive than dentists, and dentists also found them significantly more attractive than orthodontists. Conclusion: The spontaneous smile was considered more attractive than the posed smile in orthodontically treated patients.