The effect of age and gender on the display of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth during rest, speech and smiling

Purpose: To measure and compare the display of maxillary and mandibular anterior teeth during rest, speech and smiling and to determine the effect of age and gender on tooth visibility during the above mentioned expressions in a group of Indian population. Materials and methods: A digital videographic technique was used to record 120 subjects when they were smiling and speaking and at rest. Individual frames of interest were captured and the tooth visibility was measured with the help of software presentation tools. ANOVA, Tukey HSD and t tests were used to analyse the collected data and to f ind out age and sex correlations. (P<=0.05) Results: Mandibular anterior teeth were more visible during speech as compared to maxillary anterior teeth which were displayed more during smiling and at rest. As the age increased, the display of maxillary anterior teeth decreased during smiling, speech and rest while the display of mandibular anterior teeth increased during smiling only. In Females, maxillary anterior teeth were more visible during speech than males, who display more of mandibular anterior teeth. Females displayed more maxillary anterior teeth than males during smiling and at rest. Conclusion: This study offers guidelines for achieving an esthetic outcome taking into consideration the changes taking place in the visibility of anterior teeth with age and the differences in the two genders.