Impact of malocclusion on affective/romantic relationships among young adults.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the extent to which different types of malocclusion influence the development of affective/romantic relationships among young adults of both sexes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 360 men and women ranging in age from 18 years to 25 years. Criteria for exclusion from the sample were the following: participants could not be married, visually impaired, or students of a higher education course in the area of health. In this study, images of young adult men and women in the same age range as that of the evaluators were used. These images were manipulated to create different types of malocclusion: diastema, open bite, crowding, gingival (or gummy) smile, little exposure of teeth. Six groups of images containing six images each were formed and consisted of two experimental images (digitally manipulated) and four control images. These images were provided to the participants, who evaluated them by means of a questionnaire and a visual analog scale. The Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney, chi-square, and Fisher exact tests were used for data analysis.

RESULTS

All malocclusions had a negative impact on acceptance by the evaluators for the purposes of affective/romantic relationships, with crowding being the type of malocclusion that led to the highest level of rejection (P < .01).

CONCLUSION

Malocclusions have a negative influence on the development of affective/romantic relationships among young adults. Individuals with good occlusion are seen in a more positive light, from the perspective of affective life.