2022 Volume 85 Issue 1 Pages 45-51
The purpose of this study was to clarify the impression that tooth color differences in female smiles imparts on dental students using the Semantic Differential Method. The subjects were 38 undergraduate dental students. The stimulus images used were the average faces of ten adult females with smiles processed to shade guides C4, A2 and NW0. The stimulus images were presented to the subjects, and they were asked to rate their impressions of each image on a Likert scale using fifteen adjective pairs. The semantic differential (SD) profiles were then created, and the ratings of C4, A2 and NW0 for each adjective pair were compared. We found that although NW0 gave more positive impressions, it lacked naturalness and realism. A2 gave the impression of being most natural and realistic, while C4 gave more negative impressions than NW0 or C4. These results indicate that the tooth color in female smiles imparts various impressions on dental students. Shika Igaku (J Osaka Odontol Soc) 2022; Mar; 85(1): 45-51.
