Laughter and Aesthetic Analysis Part 1
Smiling is one of the most important facial expressions that occur using facial muscles. Laughter is very important as it is an expression of emotions. Your smiling face is the most important complement of balance and harmony. The first key to the feeling of self-confidence, the combination of words with emotion, the reflection of the self, the perfect magic of the ability to express begins with laughing. A balanced, impressive and cute smile that is compatible with facial structures plays an important role in interpersonal relations in society. On the contrary, an unaesthetic smile is considered a repulsive visual perception and causes the person to be perceived as unhappy, grumpy and irritable. Smiling has an undeniable position in one’s social life. Generally, the first look in personality assessment is the starting point of the first opinion.
If the result of an evaluation on smile aesthetics includes the subjective decision of the viewer, objective aesthetic analyzes of the smile can be made. These analyzes are performed on both static and dynamic elements in front, oblique angle and lateral evaluations of the face, and some parametric measurements are used.
These parametric measurements; laughing width, upper lip height, visible teeth and gingiva during laughing, relationship of upper incisors with lower and upper lip, width of negative spaces etc. With all facial mimic muscles being active during laughing, the lower 1/3 of the face comes to the fore aesthetically.
During laughing, the “laughing area” surrounded by the lower and upper lips appears.
Teeth and gums are visible in this area that occurs during laughing. Soft tissue determinants of the smile area are lip thickness, width between lip corners, interlabial space, laugh index, that is, width between lip corners / interlabial space (width and height) and gingival tissue.
There are right and left mouth corners on the outer parts of the laughing area. The most important factors in perceiving the corners of the mouth as inner and outer parts are light and shadow. But with light, these are perceived as inner and outer corners rather than corners. In the photo shoots made in daylight, the corner of the mouth is a dark corridor. This is called “buccal corridor or negative space”. This is darker and more obvious when photographed under lighting. A harmonious dental midline, narrow but intact buccal corridors, symmetrical soft and hard tissues are required for an aesthetic smile.
Anatomical definitions that occur during smiling
B buccal (cheek) corridor, OC outer corner of mouth, ICinner corner of mouth, G gums, UL upper lip vermilion, LL lower lip vermilion
According to the style of the smile, the amount of appearance of the teeth and gingiva is the evaluation criterion of the smile. When the upper lip is pulled up while smiling, the upper front teeth and the edge of the gums become slightly visible. However, in some cases, the amount of gingiva that appears increased is also accepted and provides a younger appearance.
Normally, without a smile, 1/3 of the lower part of the milk teeth can be visible under the upper lip (such as 2.5 -3 mm). While saying the letter M one after the other, the person is asked to partially release their lips for a while. At this time, the amount of teeth seen is checked. The minimum amount of appearances may vary depending on the age of the person. While the cutting edge of the maxillary incisors is 2-4 mm visible in young individuals, there may be no visible teeth as they age. In some individuals, with aging, the cutting edges of the lower incisors may begin to appear. For this reason, good adjustment of the amount of teeth visible in this position is effective in the appearance of the patient in age.
In addition, patients are asked to pronounce the letter E exaggerated and the maximum tension of the lips is captured. Thus, the amount of tissue visible in border states is determined.
Too much or too little of it is considered an unaesthetic smile. This should be to a certain extent. This is called the Morley ratio.
Normal Morley Ratio
Increased Morley Ratio
Decreased Morley ratio
An important line used in the evaluation of smile aesthetics; Laugh Line
The horizontal line passing through the gingival margin of the upper incisors is called the laugh line. The smile line should be parallel to the line passing through the pupils of both eyes. If the upper lip is above this line while laughing, it is called the high laugh line and is considered positive (+). If the upper lip is located below this line, it is called the low smile line and takes a negative (-) value. As a result of the researches, it has been determined that the laugh line is located 1.5 mm higher in women than in men. While high smile lines are more common in women; Low smile lines are more common in males.
Laughing Arc in Evaluation of Laughing Aesthetics
The laughing arch is the curve formed by the cutting edges of the upper anterior teeth. Being parallel to the lower lip curve is a sought-after feature for an aesthetic smile.
Factors affecting smile aesthetics;
1. Facial aesthetics; The muscles and other tissues that make up the facial aesthetics are unique to the person. With photographic analysis, the structure of the lip and surrounding soft tissues of the person, how they affect laughing and how they are positioned during speech, laughter and laughter can be determined. In order to achieve the ideal aesthetics of smiling in facial aesthetics, tooth-lip relationship criteria should be used and adopted regularly.
2. Gum aesthetics; The health of the gum tissue is very important for an effective smile. In addition to the negative appearance of an inflamed tissue, the asymmetrical structure of the gingival margins also creates this effect.
3. Esthetics of teeth; It is related to the anatomical structures and positions of the teeth. Teeth should be compatible with the patient’s facial structure and age in terms of color, form and size. In particular, the relations between the anterior teeth and the surrounding tissues should be aesthetic.
4. The relationship between the smile arc and the lower lip curve: For an aesthetic smile, these two curves should be parallel to each other as much as possible. In photographic tests conducted in various studies, it has been observed that this ratio is around 1-1.25 in smiles that have the highest aesthetic scores. In the opposite case, aesthetics will be adversely affected.
5. The amount of visible gingiva: This factor is one of the factors that most affect smile aesthetics. It is related to the height of the upper lip. It is desired that only the gingiva between the upper front teeth is visible during smiling.
6. Amount of Teeth Visible: the full dimensions of the upper anterior teeth should be visible. In addition, 6 front teeth and dog teeth should appear as the number of visible teeth. The amount of visible tooth size varies depending on the age of the individual. As age increases, the visible amount of maxillary anterior teeth decreases.
7. The anterior upper incisors may or may not be in contact with the lower lip, or the cutting edges may be covered by the lower lip. Indistinct contact of the incisal curve to the lower lip is the desired condition.
8. Facial midline; The practical method used for this is the perpendicular line passing through the nasion and the cupid bow. The aesthetic evaluation of the smile and the design of the smile should start from here. According to this midline, all anatomical structures that participate in laughing should be in the midline and should be located symmetrically relative to this line. The shifting of the midline will negatively affect the aesthetics.
9. Laughing should be symmetrical.
10. The corners of the mouth are located above the middle line of the upper lip while laughing, although it is not a necessary feature, it increases the aesthetics.
In the evaluation of the smile, the facial photographs of the patient are taken. For this purpose, the patient is asked to close their lips and photographed in this way, then the normal lip position is photographed by asking the muscles around the mouth to move to a free position. In this position, a slight gap develops between the upper and lower lips. Only the upper front incisors should appear in this range. Their visible dimensions are 2-4 mm. Mouth breathing due to nasal congestion can cause this position constantly.
There are two main types of laughter; social laughter and emotional-pleasure laughter. During these two types of laughing, the anatomical structures in the laughing area are different. Social laughing is a static facial expression that is made optionally without forcing, mostly for greeting purposes. The upper lip is slightly contracted and displaced upwards, and sometimes a very small amount of gingiva can be observed. Emotional laughter; stronger, sometimes in the form of laughter, is a form of expression shown in the face of a funny situation or happiness, it is done consciously. In the meantime, because the upper lip and lower lip are pulled too much, the upper and lower teeth and even the gums may be visible.
It is photographed again during the patient’s social laughter. In this smile, all of the anterior incisors and the upper gums become visible 1-2 mm.
During social laughing, all of the anterior incisors are visible, and the upper gums become 1-2 mm visible.
During emotional laughing, the upper gums become more visible in addition to social laughing.
During laughing, the line passing through both mouth corners and the line passing through both pupils should be parallel to each other.
laughing styles
We all have different laughing styles. This is determined by the defining features of the soft tissues during laughing. The muscle groups that dominate the determination of the lips and the corner of the mouth determine this.
There are three designated laughing styles
1. Cuspid laugh;
Laughing with the cuspid or corners of the mouth is the most common type of laughter in the society with a rate of 67%. The corners of the mouth first rise, open out, and the upper lip muscles contract and move upwards and continue with the appearance of the upper teeth.
2. Complex laughing; It is the least common laughing style with a rate of 2%. The upper and lower lips and the corner of the mouth muscles contract simultaneously and all of the lower and upper teeth are seen in harmony.
3. Mona Lisa style laughing; It is the second most common laughing style with a rate of 31% in the society. Lip shapes look like a lozenge. First of all, the muscles that pull the upper lip up work and the anterior upper incisors appear, then the corners of the mouth move the lips up and out, but in this smile, the corners of the mouth do not move upwards as much as the cuspid smile.
While talking about the types of smiles, it is necessary to mention the gum smile (gummy smile) lastly. As the name suggests, the gingival smile is the smile line on the gingiva. In other words, while smiling, the gingival tissue appears much more than it should be.
Features of expressive and attractive smile in women
1. The front upper teeth should be visible.
2. The upper lip moves upwards during laughing.
3. When smiling, the lower teeth are invisible or appear slightly.
4. The area bounded by the lips during laughing is called the laughing area and the width of this area should be greater than its height.
5. Upper gums appear light. The rate of this changes with age.
6. A slight gap, defined as the “Buccal corridor”, should appear at the corners of the mouth while laughing.
7. The lower borders of the anterior upper teeth form an arc during laughing. This is called the laughing arc. This arc should be seen aesthetically while laughing and should be parallel to the lower lip.
The 1st picture shows the relationship between an ideal smile and the gums. In the 2nd picture, the visibility of the upper anterior teeth and gums is higher with smiling. In 3 pictures, the upper anterior teeth are not visible at all.
Laughing aesthetics and the effect of the nose
The tip of the nose moves downwards and backwards while laughing. This can be evaluated with normal and smiling photographs of the patient.
Apart from this, it causes changes in the shape of the nose with the contraction of many muscles, whether on the nose or on the face. For example, when smiling, the tip of the nose rotates significantly downward, the upper part of the nose tip becomes rounded, causing the nose to appear temporarily long. The movement and deformity of the tip of the nose while laughing depends on the depressor septi nasi muscle. In addition, during laughing, the muscle around the mouth, Orbicularis oris, shortens the upper lip, and it can reduce the projection of the tip of the nose with mimic movements.
Patients without smile expression
Although it is not common, it is a serious facial deformity. And the change in oral circumference, which is normally observed in these patients while laughing, is not observed in these patients. In these patients, the upper lips move up a little while laughing and the upper anterior teeth are less or not visible. The emergence of this is due to the anatomy of the upper lip, anterior upper incisors and upper jaw, and soft tissues.
