PERCEPÇÃO SOBRE A ESTÉTICA DO SORRISO NO AMBIENTE UNIVERSITÁRIO

Abstract

Introduction: The attractiveness of a smile has a direct influence on people’s life, and currently, the search for a perfect smile has increased. Objective: To conduct a comparative study on the perception of smile aesthetics and self-assessment among university students. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was created using Google Forms, with questions about the aesthetic evaluation of the smile and self-perception, and 8 images were modified using Photoshop CS6 2017 for evaluation. The instrument was applied in different undergraduate courses at the University of Vassouras: Medicine; Dentistry;  Veterinary Medicine; Physical Education; Nursing; and Physiotherapy. The results were tabulated in an Excel spreadsheet, descriptive statistics were performed, and contingency tables were created. Additionally, Fisher’s exact test was calculated in the Jamovi Project v.2.4 (2023) software. Results: A total of 417 undergraduates participated, with 71.7% female and ages ranging from 18 to 50 years (mean = 22.4 years; standard deviation

= 5.2 years). The courses with the highest participation were Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine. Regarding their smile, 48.4% are satisfied and 33.6% are very satisfied with their self-assessment. In the image analysis, the most aesthetic smile has: a square shape (40.1%), with no pigmentation (74%), and no diastema (81.2%). Conclusions: The undergraduates are satisfied with their smile. The smile considered aesthetic in the university is one without diastema, lighter in color, and with a square shape. There was no significant difference in aesthetic perception among the different courses.