Dentofacial Aesthetics and Quality of Life

This article reviews, from the socio-psychological perspective on physical attractiveness, recent research on the psychosocial impacts of dental aesthetics. Research on personal impression forming suggests that visual perceptions of detrimental dental conditions might lead to conclusions about social impairments of the target person. Consumers conform considerably with professional assessment of dental aesthetics. Psychosocial impacts of dental appearance in childhood include teasing by peers. Existing research suggests that dental aesthetics contributes to psychosocial well-being of both children and adults. The concept of public self-consciousness is introduced for explaining differences in subjective psychosocial impacts of malocclusion. A promising research direction is the investigation of the relationship between dental aesthetics and oral health behavior, and further development and application of dental aesthetics-related quality-of-life measures is warranted. In addition a description of the behavioral signs of overconcern with dental aesthetics is given to facilitate its recognition and professional psychological attention.