Social, intellectual, psychological, and attractiveness judgements of lay people about patients before and after combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment

Abstract

Background: Facial appearance plays a significant role in the success of social interactions. There is a limited amount of evidence investigating the influence of combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment on the social judgments of lay people.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in facial appearance following orthognathic surgery alter the social judgements made by lay people.

Ethical approval: Ethical approval was granted from the University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry Research Ethics Committee on 17th August 2020 (Reference: 033775).

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional, web-based survey involved clinical photographs of six Caucasian female patients pre- and post-combined orthodontic-orthognathic treatment. Three patients had a pre-treatment class 2 skeletal pattern, and three patients had a pre-treatment class 3 skeletal pattern. Staff and students at the University of Sheffield, UK were invited to evaluate five personality traits: (i) friendliness, (ii) intelligence, (iii) attractiveness, (iv) self-confidence, and (5) trustworthiness using a 5-point Likert scale. The trait scores were summed to obtain a total social judgement score, and a paired t-test was used to compare the total scores from pre- and post-treatment images.

Results: There were 261 responses to the survey of which 181 (75%) were completed fully. The total social judgement scores from after treatment images were higher compared with the pre-treatment images (mean diff 1.6; P < .001) indicating more positive social judgements. The improvements in perceived social judgments were more notable for class 3 patients (mean diff 2.7) compared to class 2 patients (mean diff 0.7).

Conclusion: Social judgement scores were higher (more positive) from post-treatment images of patient faces than their pre-treatment images. The findings highlight the possible indirect benefits combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment may have on an individual in a social setting.

Keywords: facial attractiveness; orthognathic surgery; social perceptions.