An understanding of the factors influencing the attractiveness of a smile is an important step in creating attractive smiles. The objective of the study was to assess the perception of smile aesthetics among four different groups, which included orthodontists, prosthodontists, endodontists, and laypeople concerning asymmetries in the maxillary canines' gingival margins. Full-face and close-up photographs of the frontal smiles of 2 subjects (1 Female and 1 Male subject) were used. The images were altered digitally to create asymmetrical images with that of the gingival margin levels of the maxillary canines matching the central incisors. From this new image, 4 stages of alterations were made in the gingival margin of the right canine in 1-mm increments and decrements. Final full-face and close-up images of the smiles were assessed by 40 orthodontists, 40 prosthodontists, 40 endodontists, and 40 laypeople, who rated the level of attractiveness of each smile on visual analog scales. In most situations, a statistically significant difference was found, with orthodontists being more accurate followed by endodontists then prosthodontists and laypersons in detecting smile asymmetries. It can be concluded through this study that orthodontists, endodontists, and prosthodontists could detect gingival marginal asymmetry of maxillary canine up to 1mm.
