Advisory Committee Chair
Chung H Kau
Advisory Committee Members
Amjad Javed
Nada Souccar
Christos Vlachos
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2013
Degree Name by School
Master of Science (MS) School of Dentistry
Abstract
Introduction: The aims of this study were (1) to evaluate whether there is a difference in perception of facial attractiveness when viewing two-dimensional (2D) versus three-dimensional images (3D) within each population studied (Caucasian, African American, and Chinese), (2) to evaluate whether panels of raters with different levels of orthodontic education would give similar facial attractiveness scores, and (3) to identify the soft tissue features that influence facial attractiveness when viewing 2D and 3D images. Materials and methods: A total of 60 3D images from three populations selected for this study were acquired using a 3dMDfaceTM system (Atlanta, GA) and were made into rotating movie files. Two-dimensional images were created as snapshots from these 3D images. The images were made into two sets, 60 slides with 2D images and 60 slides with 3D images. Three panels of raters (22 dental students, 10 orthodontic residents, and 8 orthodontic faculty members) were asked to rate facial attractiveness of each image. Scores for 2D and 3D images and responses among raters were compared. Results: The experienced group (residents and faculty combined) had significantly higher attractiveness scores for all race/gender-specific images when compared to the inexperienced group (dental students). Only the residents group had higher mean attractiveness scores based on 3D images compared to those based on 2D images. These differences were statistically significant for the images of Caucasian females (p=0.0048), Caucasian males (p=0.0325), African American females (p=0.0352), and Chinese males (p=0.0015). Although most of the raters were satisfied with 2D images (94.4% experienced raters; 71.7% inexperienced raters; 100% faculty only; 90% residents only), most preferred 3D images to evaluate facial attractiveness (77.8% experienced raters; 95.5% inexperienced raters; 75% faculty only; 80% residents only). There was great variation in facial features that were considered to be important for facial attractiveness among raters. Conclusion: Experienced raters tended to rate images as more attractive than inexperienced raters. For the majority of responses, there were no significant differences in ranking of facial attractiveness when viewing 2D images versus 3D images. There were no consistent responses among raters regarding the facial features that contribute to attractiveness.
Recommended Citation
Marshall, Aksana, "Perception of attractiveness: a comparison of two-dimensional versus three-dimensional images" (2013). All ETDs from UAB. 2391.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2391
