Perception of Changing Roll among Orthodontists, Dentists and Laypersons in Central Indian Population- A Pilot Study

Introduction: Esthetics is the main factor in choosing orthodontic treatment. It can be difficult to identify an esthetic issue because no two people think alike. When the line of dentition is rotated around a horizontal axis left-right, it is termed as roll. We are therefore attempting to evaluate the lack of clarity in perception among different groups. Aim: To assess and compare the perception of changing roll among orthodontists, dentists & laypersons. Materials and Methods: Two standard extra-oral photographs of a subject, were digitally manipulated in terms of roll. A sample of 120 evaluators [40 orthodontists, 40 dentists and 40 laypersons] judged both the images (original and altered) on a visual analogue scale ranging from 1 (the least attractive) to 10 (the most attractive). The responses were then analyzed by Statistical Package for Social Sciences 20.0 version. Inclusion criteria: Participants from Central India residing for more than 2 years. Results: The comparison of the VAS score assigned to images by orthodontists, lay persons and dentists (except orthodontists) was done using Friedman test, followed by post hoc analysis. The comparison of the VAS score assigned to different images by participants of any group was done using Kruskal-Wallis test. This was followed by post hoc analysis. A p value <0.5 was considered statistically significant. Confidence interval was set at 95.0%. This revealed that dentists were able to identify roll of 3 mm or more with significant difference. Orthodontists could identify roll at 1 mm itself, while laypersons found the image with roll of 0 mm and 4 mm attractive. Conclusion: The most attractive image in the opinion of the orthodontists were with 0 mm of roll, 0 mm and 4 mm of roll for laypersons and 2 mm of roll for dentists.