A study on gingival component of smile

Background: Esthetic enhancement of smile requires prior quantification of gingival component of smile. Hence, a study has been designed on randomly selected volunteers′ and posed frontal smiling photographs were taken and analyzed through computer-aided ImageJ software. Aim: To determine the role of gingival component in designing a smile. Settings and Design: Present observational study includes one frontal photograph from each of 212 subjects who were attending the Department of Periodontics (examined during the study period) and then divided into three age groups (18-30, 31-40, and 41-50 years). Materials and Methods: Standardized frontal photographs with posed smile from 212 volunteers irrespective of age and sex were taken and the images were analyzed in computer by using ImageJ software. Statistical analysis used: Mean and standard deviation of intercommissural width (ICW), interlabial gap (ILG), and smile index (SI) during posed smiling were calculated for different sex. Comparison between male and female group were done by Mann-Whitney U test, and P-values were calculated for ICW, ILG, and SI. Spearman′s rank correlation coefficients (rho) were calculated for SI and different components of central zone of smile. Results: Male group as compared to female group exhibited greater ICW and ILG, and there was existence of fair to good correlation between lip dynamics and different factors of smile. Conclusion: Present study indicates that different factors of central zone of smile havefair to good correlation with lip dynamics assessed by SI