The effects of forehead and neck positions on profile esthetics.

INTRODUCTION: Each facial feature might affect the perception of the balance of the other features so the whole of the face must be considered in facial evaluation. There are no studies that have examined the effect of forehead and neck position on profile esthetics. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of forehead and neck positions on profile esthetics judged by lay people, dental students and art students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A straight silhouette (black right-facing profile in white background) was digitally manipulated to make variations of profiles. The positions of all compartments of face were similar except for anteroposterior position of forehead and neck. The 310 raters (100 dental students, 100 art students and 110 lay people) were asked to rate profiles with a Likert scale. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney test, chisquare tests, Spearman rank correlation coefficients, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Kruskal-Wallis analyses were used in data analysis.

RESULTS: The scores given to profiles with straight, retruded and protruded necks and foreheads were significantly different. (P < 0.05). In three groups, the most and least attractive profiles judged by raters were comparable (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: This study showed that the position of the forehead and the neck has an effect on the beauty of profile silhouettes and this effect is so noticeable that all of the raters could perceive the differences. It is necessary to evaluate the whole of the face, including the forehead and neck, in a facial evaluation.