Correlation between facial attractiveness and facial components assessed by laypersons and orthodontists

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Relationship between facial attractiveness and facial components is not completely clear. The aim was to analyze the correlation between facial attractiveness and facial components assessed by laypersons and orthodontists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The attractiveness of 100 adult patients (50 males and 50 females with their frontal, lateral, and frontal smiling photos), before orthodontic treatment, was assessed by 24 laypersons and 24 orthodontists using visual analog scale. Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: When laypersons assessed, a significant correlation was found between facial attractiveness and the chin (r = 0.671), eyes (r = 0.669), lips (r = 0.585), hair (r = 0.527), teeth (r = 0.338), and nose (r = 0.247); the chin was responsible for 45.1% of the variation in facial attractiveness, the eyes for 14.3%, and the lips for 0.8%. When orthodontists assessed, a significant correlation was found between facial attractiveness and the lips (r = 0.789), eyes (r = 0.646), hair (r = 0.613), chin (r = 0.565), nose (r = 0.264), and teeth (r = 0.221); the lips were responsible for 62.2% of the variation in facial attractiveness, the eyes for 8.2%, the chin for 1.4%, and the hair for 0.5%. CONCLUSION: When laypersons evaluate, the chin contributes the most to facial attractiveness, and when orthodontists evaluate, the lips contribute the most. Whether in the evaluation of laypersons or orthodontists, the contribution of teeth to facial attractiveness is significantly less than that of the lips and chin.