Smile prevails over other facial components of male facial esthetics

Background: The aim of this study was to assess whether scores assigned to the eyes, nose, mouth, and chin regions work as predictors of full smiling face scores.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the authors used the facial photographs of 86 smiling men. Photographs yielded 5 components: 1 of the face itself and 4 subcomponents (eyes, nose, mouth, and chin region). Raters assigned the photographs beauty scores that the authors measured morphometrically. The authors analyzed the predictive ability of the subcomponents against that of the full face.

Results: The subcomponents were statistically significant predictors of facial beauty (mouth: r² = 0.38, P < .0001; eyes: r² = 0.14, P < .0001; chin region: r² = 0.09, P < .0001; nose: r² = 0.02, P = .05). The more beautiful people had several statistically significant characteristics, such as narrower faces.

Conclusions: Facial subcomponents are predictive factors of the male smiling face and contribute in the following descending order of importance: mouth, eyes, chin region, and nose.

Practical implications: The results suggest that for many people improvement in smile esthetics also likely will exert a more positive effect on facial beauty than will other procedures (for example, rhinoplasty).