Facial and smile aesthetics

An improvement in facial and smile aesthetics is the main motivation of patients to seek orthodontic care. Although they are purely physical traits, facial and smile attractiveness have a broad social impact, which extends into various life aspects, such as personal relationships and professional success.

We are studying facial and smile attractiveness using three-dimensional technology, geometric morphometrics and psychometric questionnaires. Our aims are: a) to evaluate the association between three-dimensional facial/smile shape and facial/smile attractiveness, b) to investigate the link between facial appearance and perceived psychosocial traits, c) to study the impact of orthodontics on facial and smile appearance.

Departments:

• Department of Orthodontics

External collaborations:

• Department of Orthodontics, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston MA 02111, USA
• Department of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, University of Bern, CH-3010, Bern, Switzerland
• Department of Pediatric Oral Health and Orthodontics, UZB – University School of Dental Medicine, University of Basel, CH-4058, Basel, Switzerland
• Oral Development and Orthodontics, Research Unit of Oral Health Sciences, Medical Faculty, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
• Oral and Maxillofacial Department, Oulu University Hospital, Medical Research Center Oulu (MRC Oulu), Oulu, Finland

Selected publications:

• Coppola G, Christopoulou I, Gkantidis N, Verna C, Pandis N, Kanavakis G. The effect of orthodontic treatment on smile attractiveness: a systematic review. Prog Orthod. 2023 Feb 6;24(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s40510-023-00456-5. PMID: 36740663.
• Kouskoura T, Ochsner T, Verna C, Pandis N, Kanavakis G. The effect of orthodontic treatment on facial attractiveness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Orthod. 2022 Dec 1;44(6):636-649. doi: 10.1093/ejo/cjac034. PMID: 35984326.
• Dobreva D, Gkantidis N, Halazonetis D, Verna C, Kanavakis G. Smile Reproducibility and Its Relationship to Self-Perceived Smile Attractiveness. Biology (Basel). 2022 May 7;11(5):719. doi: 10.3390/biology11050719. PMID: 35625447.
• Kanavakis G, Halazonetis D, Katsaros C, Gkantidis N. Facial shape affects self-perceived facial attractiveness. PLoS One. 2021 Feb 3;16(2):e0245557. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245557. PMID: 33534847.
• Horn S, Matuszewska N, Gkantidis N, Verna C, Kanavakis G. Smile dimensions affect self-perceived smile attractiveness. Sci Rep. 2021 Feb 2;11(1):2779. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-82478-9. PMID: 33531621.
• Krooks L, Pirttiniemi P, Tolvanen M, Kanavakis G, Lähdesmäki R, Silvola AS. Association of facial sagittal and vertical characteristics with facial aesthetics in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966. Eur J Orthod. 2019 May 24;41(3):279-285. doi: 10.1093/ejo/cjy062. PMID: 30215708.
• Kouli A, Papagiannis A, Konstantoni N, Halazonetis DJ, Konstantonis D. A geometric morphometric evaluation of hard and soft tissue profile changes in borderline extraction versus non-extraction patients. Eur J Orthod. 2019 May 24;41(3):264-272. doi: 10.1093/ejo/cjy056. PMID: 30212892.
• Gkantidis N, Papamanou DA, Karamolegkou M, Dorotheou D. Esthetic, Functional, and Everyday Life Assessment of Individuals with Cleft Lip and/or Palate. Biomed Res Int. 2015;2015:510395. doi: 10.1155/2015/510395. PMID: 26064918.
• Papamanou DA, Gkantidis N, Topouzelis N, Christou P. Appreciation of cleft lip and palate treatment outcome by professionals and laypeople. Eur J Orthod. 2012 Oct;34(5):553-60. doi: 10.1093/ejo/cjr073. PMID: 21771802.
• Halazonetis DJ. Morphometric correlation between facial soft-tissue profile shape and skeletal pattern in children and adolescents. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2007 Oct;132(4):450-7. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2005.10.033. PMID: 17920497.
• Halazonetis DJ. Morphometric evaluation of soft-tissue profile shape. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2007 Apr;131(4):481-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2005.06.031. PMID: 17418714.
• Tarantili VV, Halazonetis DJ, Spyropoulos MN. The spontaneous smile in dynamic motion. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2005 Jul;128(1):8-15. doi: 10.1016/j.ajodo.2004.03.042. PMID: 16027620.
• Spyropoulos MN, Halazonetis DJ. Significance of the soft tissue profile on facial esthetics. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2001 May;119(5):464-71. doi: 10.1067/mod.2001.113656. PMID: 11343017.