Journal of Dental Medicine

Background and Aims: Dental aesthetics has become an important issue in contemporary society. This study was designed to evaluate the patients’ satisfaction with their dental appearance and tendency to improve dental aesthetics.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, a questionnaire with 17 questions was used to collect data from 200 patients referred to the dental school of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences from April-July 2019. A valid and reliable self-administrative questionnaire consisted of questions about the appearance of anterior teeth, receiving cosmetic treatments, and favorite aesthetic dental treatments was designed and used. Data were fed into SPSS22 and analyzed by Mann-Whitney, Kruskal Wallis and Spearman correlation tests (α=0.05).
Results: Among the participants, 27.5% (n=45) were dissatisfied with the appearance of their anterior teeth and the major reason for this dissatisfaction was related to the tooth color (35.8%, n=71). It was also observed that approximately 84% (n=168) of the patients had a history of smile concealment because of their teeth appearance. Among cosmetic dentistry treatments, aesthetic restorations were more commonly used than other treatments (20.5%, n=41). However, the most desired cosmetic treatments were teeth whitening (78.4%, n=156). There was no significant relationship between the satisfaction with the appearance of teeth and interest in the orthodontic treatment with age and education level (P=0.6).
Conclusion: Teeth color was the most important factor determining the degree of satisfaction with the appearance of teeth. Most of subjects desired to receive an aesthetic dental treatment and teeth whitening was the most popular aesthetic dental treatment.

Background and Aims: The display of an individual's teeth varies in different facial expressions, which significantly affects the beauty of the lower face and overall appearance. The ideal display of incisors is influenced by lip morphology and is an essential aspect of treatment planning. This study aimed to evaluate the ideal display of incisors at rest in women with different lip forms, as assessed by dentists and laypeople.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted in 2024 at Babol University of Medical Sciences. 46 dentists and 92 laypeople were selected and included in the study in an easy and accessible way. The distance between the uppermost area from the lower edge of the vermilion of the upper lip to the imaginary line between the two commissures was used to classify the lip shape, which was divided into three categories: straight (0-3 mm), medium (3-6 mm) and long (more than 6 mm). Smile images of three women in the age range of 15-30 years were collected and manipulated, resulting in six new images from each original image with varying degrees of incisor display using Photoshop (a total of 18 images). The designed images were randomly placed in a booklet and given to participants, who scored each image on a scale of zero to 100. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 and using the Mann-Whitney test at a significance level of 0.05.
Results: A total of 138 participants took part in the study, including 46 dentists (33.3%), comprising 17 males (37%) and 29 females (63%), and 92 laypeople (66.7%), including 46 males (50.0%) and 46 females (50.0%). Laypeople gave higher scores to images of straight and moderate lip forms than dentists. However, this difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). In addition, dentists gave significantly higher scores to all images related to the  long lip form than laypeople (P<0/05). In addition, among laypeople, men gave a higher score than women to images related to straight and moderate lip form, which was statistically significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings of this study indicated that a 2.5 mm incisal display at rest was suitable for patients with a straight lip form. In general, it can be concluded that by changing the shape of the lip from straight to long, there is a preference for increasing the amount of incisal display in the resting state.

Background and Aims: Dentists’(specialists and general practitioners) perceptions of smile esthetics, which are often shaped academically based on standard criteria and hard and soft tissue relationships, may differ from those of the general public and patients, potentially failing to meet patients’ expectations of treatment. This study aimed to assess and compare the views of dental specialists, general dentists, and members of the general public regarding the influence of different labio-palatal inclinations of maxillary incisors on smile esthetics.
Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 on general dentists, dental specialists, and laypersons. General dentists and specialists practicing in Mazandaran Province were recruited, while laypersons were selected through convenience sampling from patients attending the Faculty of Dentistry in Babol-Iran. One male and one female subject were chosen based on the clinical and lateral cephalometric criteria, and two photographs (neutral facial expression and smiling) were taken of each. After image editing, five final photographs of each subject were prepared and presented in a questionnaire to evaluate participants’ perceptions of smile esthetics according to different labio-palatal inclinations of maxillary incisors, rated on a five-point Likert scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software with independent t-tests and ANOVA.
Results: A total of 92 laypersons, 47 general dentists, and 141 specialists (47 orthodontists, 47 restorative dentists, and 47 oral and maxillofacial surgeons) participated in this study. Across all three groups, the most attractive male smile was associated with the -5° inclination (medium negative), whereas, the most attractive female smile was rated at 0°. Conversely, the least attractive smile in all groups was the −10° inclination (severe negative) in female images. Photographs with −10° inclination received the lowest scores for both male and female subjects. Specialists assigned lower mean scores to the 0° inclination images compared to general dentists and laypersons.
Conclusion: The divergence between dentists’ and laypersons’ perceptions of the impact of different labio-palatal inclinations of maxillary incisors on smile esthetics highlights the need for greater attention to patients’ expectations and treatment goals.

Background and Aims: Oral health affects the quality of life and plays the main role in achieving optimal conditions of health and general well-being. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the psychosocial effects and quality of life related to oral health in patients treated with composite veneers.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 48 patients who referred to the restorative department of Jundishapur University of Ahvaz for composite veneer treatment were participated. The PIDAQ questionnaire was used to investigate the aesthetic effects of composite veneer treatment on the psychosocial conditions of the patients, and the OHIP-14 questionnaire was used to investigate the quality of life related to oral health. Patients were asked to complete both questionnaires before treatment and one month after composite veneer treatment. Also, demographic information including age, sex, education and marital status of the patients were recorded. The purpose and benefits of participating in this study were fully explained to the patients and the patients voluntarily participated in this study. Then, an informed consent form was given to the patients. In order to compare the scores before and after the treatment, the paired T-test and its non-parametric equation expression (Will-Coxon) were used, and P<0.05 was considered.
Results: According to the results, the average age of the respondents was 28 years. In terms of gender, 54.2% of the patients were male, and in terms of education, most of the participants in the study had a bachelor's degree (35.4%). The total score of OHIP-14 before treatment was 26 and after treatment 22. Also, the total score of PIDAQ before treatment was 49 and after treatment 28. Comparing the scores of psychosocial effects and quality of life related to the oral health before and after composite veneer treatment showed that there was a difference between the average score of psychosocial effects and quality of life. There was a significant difference related to the oral health before and after composite veneer treatment, which significantly decreased after treatment (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The present study showed that suitable veneer composite treatments could improve the oral health related to the quality of life of people. Also, treatment with composite veneers could have a significant effect on patients' self-confidence. Composite veneers could reduce social effects, psychological effects, and cosmetic concerns related to patients’ teeth.