Assessment of Association Between Tooth Morphology and Psychology

Abstract

Introduction: Visagism is the science which explores the possible connection between one’s personality and teeth shape. Clinicians maybe able to design a smile that blends with physical appearance, personality and desire of the patient. Aim: To evaluate the association between tooth morphology and psychological traits. Materials and Methods: A total of 102 participants aged between 20 and 35 years among medical professionals were selected for the study conducted from November 2018 to March 2019. The tooth forms, long axis, and occlusion lines were drawn using photograph editing software after capturing the photographs of frontal view of teeth in centric occlusion of the participants. And this was assessed with questionnaire. Temperaments of the participants were identified using a selfreporting questionnaire and classified according to Big Five Personality Traits. The type of temperament obtained from the questionnaire for each participant was compared with tooth form (oval, square, rectangle and triangular) obtained from photographic evaluation. Statistical analysis used were Oneway ANOVA followed by post-hoc and Chi-Square test by keeping level of significance ≤0.05. Results: Females (82.4%) were more than males with a mean age of 23 years. Extraversion had square tooth form (34.1%). Conscientiousness trait had oval tooth form (31.6%). The Chi-square test presented that square tooth form showed extraversion trait (34.1%) and neuroticism (29.7%). However, the results were statistically insignificant (p>0.05). Conclusion: Although the concept of visagism is an appreciable idea, it lacks a practical approach to create a personalised smile.

Keywords

• personality traits
• tooth shape
• visagism