Smile Esthetics: Age Related Changes, and Objective Differences between Social and Spontaneous Smiles

Objective: To evaluate the importance of age in orthodontic treatment by studying the dependence of smile and resting parameters on age and to expose differences between social and spontaneous smiles. Materials and Methods: Subjects consisted of 67 individuals aged between 17 and 55. The video recordings were transferred to a computer. 200 still frames were captured for each individual. 50 were captured in resting position, 50 during speech, 50 for social, and 50 for spontaneous smiles. One picture was selected from each group based on how pictures reflected the desired point ANOVA and Scheffe Post-hoc tests were performed on smile measurements. Results: In all the resting parameters, statistically significant differences were observed among age groups. Also, the response of these parameters to age differs between men and women. Statistically significant differences were found in some smile parameters among different age groups, for both smile types. We find significant differences between social and spontaneous smiles. Conclusion: Age related alterations should be taken into consideration during treatment planning, especially in women. Due to its high consistency, there are advantages with using a spontaneous smile in soft-hard tissue evaluations. We also emphasize the necessity to take dynamic registrations for a true functional evaluation.

smile esthetics, spontaneous smile, Duchenne smile, social smile

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