Abstract
Purpose
Smiling
plays an important role in social interaction. The purpose of this
research was to explore the extent to which objective parameters of
color of one's own teeth affected the social and emotional dimensions of
young adults’ lives.
Materials and Methods
The
sample included 134 subjects—students of the University of Rijeka,
Croatia (65% female) aged 19 to 28 years (median 21). All subjects had
six intact maxillary anterior teeth without restorations or severe
malocclusions and healthy gingiva with no signs of inflammation. Tooth
color was assessed intraorally using a spectrophotometer. Lightness,
chroma, and translucency of the right maxillary central incisors (the
reference teeth) were calculated and used for analysis. Subjects
reported dimensions of their oral health-related quality of life
(OHRQoL) using the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), Orofacial Esthetic
Scale (OES), and the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics
Questionnaire (PIDAQ). Linear relationships between elements of tooth
color and OHRQoL were explored using Pearson correlations. Multiple
linear regression, while controlling for the influence of age and
gender, was also calculated. ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test was
employed to test whether nonlinear relationships existed between OHRQoL
and categories of color elements.
Results
Dental
self-confidence, esthetic concerns, orofacial appearance, social impact
and psychological impact were not related to lightness, chroma, or
translucency of the subjects’ teeth. Neither linear nor nonlinear
relationships were detected between those aspects. Satisfaction with
smile esthetics was only related to translucency where subjects with
moderate translucency were least likely to be satisfied (p = 0.033). Women tended to report greater psychosocial impacts than men (p < 0.05), regardless of their tooth color.
Conclusion
According
to the results of this study objective, measurable, quantitative
parameters of tooth color did not accurately predict psychosocial
dimensions of OHRQoL in dentate young adults.
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