Perception of facial profile attractiveness of a brown subject displaying different degrees of lip projection or retrusion, in the city of Salvador/Bahia

INTRODUCTION: The attractiveness and facial aesthetics are commonly defined by the media in modern society and the number of patients seeking for changes in the facial appearance is progressively increasing. Augmented face convexity is believed to be non aesthetic and among the treatments available for its correction, the extraction of premolars followed by anterior teeth retraction produces a significant effect. However, it is questionable whether the procedure is reasonable in brown and black patients, since dental protrusion is considered a common morphological feature in these groups. METHODS: A photograph of a brown female subject was manipulated with image-editing program to generate a set of images with different degrees of labial retraction/protrusion. Two hundred individuals, randomly selected, were asked to rate each photograph and select which one showed the best aesthetic appearance. The survey was carried out in Salvador / Bahia (Brazil), which is a city with strong African slavery background and high proportion of brown and black population. RESULTS: Regardless of color, sex or income, the interviewees chose primarily the straight facial profile and secondarily the slightly concave or convex as more pleasant for a brown female individual (p< 0.05). The moderate and extreme convexity had the lowest scores (p< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that among the accessed population, straight and slightly convex or concave profiles were preferred for a brown subject and moderate or excessive facial protrusion were not well accepted. It is expected that these data can guide orthodontists about the need for extraction to reduce dental protrusion in brown patients.