Esthetic influence of facial parts by various age-groups of Thai

Objectives: To compare the esthetic influence of facial parts in Thai people of different age groups. Methods: The participants was categorized into two age groups, 20-40 and 41-60 years old. (n=401 and 128 respectively) Then, both groups rated the facial photographs of one Thai female. To establish the most and least beautiful 7 facial parts (eye, nose, lip, tooth, chin, face and skin), each facial part was adjusted gradually according to the Thai Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. However, the tooth alignment was adjusted according to the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need. Then, the assessors rated these facial parts and seven facial photographs were reconstructed. Each photograph contains six most beautiful with one least beautiful facial part in turn. The assessors, again chose the photograph that they like and dislike the most. They also scored each photograph from zero to ten. Results: Although age was mentioned to be one of the factors influencing the perception of facial beauty, this study could not find the significant difference. Further, both groups disliked the photographs that contained crooked teeth and bad skin complexion, respectively. Wilcoxon signed ranks test suggested that the alignment of the teeth was ranked as the most esthetically influential. Conclusions: Age of Thai assessors in this study may not be the significant factor for facial beauty perception. Moreover, malaligned teeth and bad skin complexion were voted as the most esthetically influential facial parts by both age groups.