Perception of Repaired Cleft Lip Aesthetics among Professionals, Laypersons and Patients with Cleft Using Three-Dimensional Images

• Main Authors: Othman, Siti Adibah, Low, M.
• Format: Article
• Published: Ektodermal Displazi Grubu 2021
• Subjects: R Medicine; RJ Pediatrics; Child health. Child health services; RK Dentistry
• Online Access: http://eprints.um.edu.my/35888/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85110693666&partnerID=40&md5=ee43760a077f76e7d3a3fb6004f3d20a

This was a prospective cross-sectional quantitative study to determine the differences in perception on lip aesthetic between repaired cleft lip and non-cleft lip’s three-dimensional (3D) images by professionals, laypersons, and patients with cleft; and to examine the influence lip asymmetry has on perception of aesthetics. Sixteen standardised 3D lip images of repaired cleft and non-cleft lips were presented in random order to three groups of raters; dental professionals (orthodontists and oral surgeons), laypersons and patients with cleft. For each image, the raters had to evaluate lip attractiveness using the visual analog scale (VAS) score. Differences in mean VAS score were analysed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was utilized to identify any possible relationship between lip asymmetry and aesthetic scores. The average VAS score for the repaired cleft images was 3.64 lower than non-cleft images (5.19 vs 8.83), and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.05). No significant differences in the VAS scoring between the three rater groups were observed. Although not significant, a negative correlation was found between the degree of lip asymmetry and VAS score. Repaired cleft lips had significantly lower aesthetic scores than non-cleft normal lips. The professional background of raters did not influence their perception of lip aesthetics and the level of asymmetry also did not affect their aesthetic scoring. © 2021. All rights reserved.