Objective: To determine the individual and combined influence of some anterior occlusal characteristics on self-perceived dental appearance in a sample of young adults.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at a dental clinic of a private university in Lima, Peru. A total of 267 first-year students (16 to 25 years old) were randomly selected. A visual analog scale (VAS) was used to determine the self-perceived dental appearance. Clinical examinations were conducted to determine incisal irregularity, anterior dentoalveolar spacing, midline diastema, anterior missing teeth, overjet, and overbite. Simple and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to determine the individual and combined influence of each anterior occlusal characteristic on self-perceived dental appearance.
Results: From the eight occlusal characteristics and two covariables evaluated, only maxillary and mandible incisal irregularity (P=.001 and .002 respectively), presence of anterosuperior spacing (P<.001), and number of missing anterior teeth (P=.003) were inversely associated with self-perceived dental appearance, whereas gender (male) was directly associated to the dependent variable (P=.021). Specifically, anterior maxillary spacing, maxillary incisal irregularity, mandible incisal irregularity, and the number of missing teeth were, in that order, the anterior occlusal characteristics with the most negative influence on self-perceived dental appearance.
Conclusions: This study confirmed that occlusal characteristics in the anterior portion of the mouth play a role on dental esthetics. However, it should be emphasized that their grouped influence is minimal (less than 20%).