The importance of dental aesthetics among dental students assessment of knowledge

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess the dental esthetics awareness among dental students in a private university in Chennai as none is available in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The dental esthetics awareness questionnaire consisting of a battery of 19 questions under five aspects that is, physical, functional, social, knowledge, and psychological aspects was administered to a sample of 100 dental college students aged between 18 and 27 years in a private college in Chennai, India. Gender variations on the responses of their effects and the impact on dental esthetics awareness had been analyzed using a Chi-square test. RESULTS: With respect to physical aspects, pigmentation shows more significance as students want to get treated for their pigmentation of lips and gums. With respect to functional aspects, eating shows more significance as students have difficulty while eating. In social aspects, habits show more significance as it affects their esthetics. With respect to psychological aspects, mental depression shows more significance as students feel more deprived due to their unesthetic appearance. CONCLUSION: This study shows a high level of self-consciousness and the findings of the studies prove that even the slightest of variations have a greater impact on the above-mentioned dimensions in particular to psychological, functional, and physical aspects.