ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between the components of the objective grading system developed by the American Board of Orthodontics (ABO) and smile esthetics in Class I extraction vs non-extraction cases.

A total of 40 extraoral smile images of orthodontically treated (20 extraction and 20 non-extraction) cases in the age group of 13-30 years and Class I skeletal malocclusion with an average mandibular plane angle were selected. Smile images were rated only by the orthodontist, and this panel included 12 members. Scoring of post-treatment dental casts and panoramic radiographs of each patient was performed by 1 investigator per the guidelines of the ABO grading system. The Pearson correlation coefficient and logistic regression analysis were used to ascertain whether the scores of the ABO grading system could foretell whether a smile would be “attractive” or “unattractive.”

The correlation between all the criteria of the ABO grading system and attractiveness of the smile was extremely weak. The r values ranged from -0.53 to 0.37 for extraction cases and -0.63 to 0.003 for non-extraction cases (p>0.05). Neither individual parameters nor total scores of the ABO grading system could predict whether the smile was attractive or unattractive in either group.

No correlation was found between post-treatment ABO grading and smile esthetics in patients with extraction or non-extraction. Hence, this study recommends that ancillary soft tissue variables have to be incorporated into the grading system to evaluate a smile.