Comparison of the Esthetic Perception on Various Anterior Malocclusion between the Parents of Orthodontic Patients with Different Malocclusion

Introduction: The aim of this study is to compare the difference in the degree of esthetic perception of various malocclusions between parents and dentists using visual analog scale (VAS) and to see the sociodemographic characteristics in each type of malocclusion. Methods: Photos of seven types of malocclusions that can be seen at the front were selected. Parents were divided into seven groups according to the children’s malocclusion; anterior crossbite, crowding, anterior deepbite, diastema, edge to edge bite, maxillary incisor protrusion, and anterior openbite group. And the dentist group was set as a control group. A questionnaire was made to evaluate the photos of seven types of malocclusions using a VAS and to investigate sociodemographic factors. Results: Compared to the total parent group, the dentist group gave a significantly lower VAS score to the anterior crossbite, edge to edge bite, and maxillary incisor protrusion photo (P<0.05). Every group showed the highest VAS in the edge-to-edge bite photo and the lowest in the crowding photo except the edge-to-edge bite group (P<0.05). The anterior openbite group gave the lowest VAS to the photo of their malocclusion, the anterior openbite photo (P<0.05). The anterior crossbite and crowding group showed significant differences in patient’s age at the time of the first orthodontic consultation and the number of the examinations per year (P<0.05). Conclusions: Parents’ esthetic perception, patient’s age at the first consultation, and the number of the examinations showed significant differences according to the type of malocclusion of the patient.