Advisory Committee Chair
Maria L Geisinger
Advisory Committee Members
Ramzi V Abou-Arraj
Hussein Basma
Nicolaas C Geurs
Amjad Javed
Maninder Kaur
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2020
Degree Name by School
Master of Science (MS) School of Dentistry
Abstract
IDEAL GINGIVAL DISPLAY UPON FULL SMILE, A COMPARATIVE EVALUATION IN AMERICAN DENTAL PROFESSIONALS AND LAYPEOPLE ANTHONY M. PIKOS UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, PERIODONTICS DEPARTMENT ABSTRACT The essentials of a smile involve the relationship between three primary components: the teeth, the lip framework, and the gingival scaffold. Excess of the gums while smiling is known as the gingival smile and this has been considered unaesthetic; however, the amount of gingival excess considered appealing differs in the literature. The purpose of this study is to determine if there is a difference in the perceptions of an ideally esthetic smile between dental professionals and laypersons by using digitally manipulated photographs, and to investigate if gender, race, and age have an effect on the participant’s perception of gingival display in smile esthetics. The protocol used in this study included a total of 82 people which comprised of laypersons and dental professionals from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry. In an online quiz, participants were shown 6 digitally altered smiles of 5 different subjects and asked to rank on a scale of 1 to 6 stars the pictures of the same subject with variable amount of gingival display. Overall when combining all of the subjects evaluated based upon amount of gingival display, the study participants, regardless of age, race, education, and gender, evaluated 0mm of gingival display as most esthetic. In both the individual and combined assessments, 2mm and 3mm of gingival display were ranked as the most unaesthetic smiles. Differences in rankings were found between the different age groups and genders while no differences were noted when analyzing race and education level. The ultimate goals of this study were to help the dental practitioner gain a deeper understanding into addressing gingival display and to realize the importance of patient’s perceptions of esthetics and how to ultimately treat these patients and achieve ideal esthetic outcomes. It can be concluded that 0mm and 1mm of gingival display exhibited the highest mean scores exhibiting esthetic acceptance while 3mm of gingival display was most unaesthetic. Age, race, and gender can affect the variability of how much gingival display or lip coverage can be esthetic, and should be considered when treating patients with gummy smiles. Keywords: gingival display, gingival excess, gummy smile, gingival esthetics
Recommended Citation
Pikos, Anthony Michael, "Ideal Gingival Display Upon Full Smile, A Comparative Evaluation In American Dental Professionals And Laypeople" (2020). All ETDs from UAB. 2728.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/2728
