Abstract
Facial symmetry plays an important role in facial attractiveness and is one of the
major criteria used to determine attractiveness in humans. In craniomaxillofacial
surgery, facial symmetry is one of the main considerations. The aim of this study
was to determine anthropometric measurements quantitatively and investigate the relationship
between facial symmetry and attractiveness in a local Malay population. The study
included 30 photographed Malay individuals and 100 photograph assessors, all aged
between 18 and 26 years. The assessors indicated their preferences regarding the more
attractive face on original and manipulated (symmetrical face) photographs. None of
the photographed subjects had a perfectly symmetrical face (asymmetry index (AI) of
0%); 33.3% of the photographed subjects had an AI in the range of 1.6–2.0%. The majority
of assessors chose the manipulated symmetrical face as the most attractive (manipulated
photograph selected in 91.2% of cases). As facial symmetry is considered a critical
factor in attractiveness, it is beneficial to consider balance and symmetry prior
to facial reconstruction. The AI values found in this study may be useful as guidance
to determine the normal minimum balance of facial symmetry. No AI values indicating
perfect symmetry were observed for the unedited facial anthropometric measurements.
However, the projection of a perfectly symmetrical face does influence the perception
of facial attractiveness.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Facial attractiveness.Trends Cogn Sci. 1999; 3: 452-460https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(99)01403-5
- The lateralisation of emotion: a critical review.Int J Psychol. 1982; 17: 211-229https://doi.org/10.1080/00207598208247442
- Facial asymmetry in healthy North American Caucasians: an anthropometrical study.Angle Orthod. 1981; 51: 70-77
- Digitizing the moving face during dynamic displays of emotion.Neuropsychologia. 2000; 38: 1028-1039https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(99)00151-7
- Symmetry, averageness, and feature size in the facial attractiveness of women.Acta Psychol. 2004; 117: 313-332https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2004.07.002
- Facial attractiveness: visual impact of symmetry increases significantly towards the midline.Ann Plast Surg. 2007; 59: 156-162https://doi.org/10.1097/01.sap.0000252041.66540.ec
- Facial symmetry and the perception of beauty.Psychon Bull Rev. 1998; 5: 659-669https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03208842
- Symmetry, beauty and evolution.Nature. 1994; 372: 169-172https://doi.org/10.1038/372169a0
- Facial asymmetry and attractiveness judgement in developmental perspective.J Exp Psychol Hum Percept Perform. 1996; 22: 662-675https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.22.3.662
- Quantification of facial asymmetry by 2D analysis—a comparison of recent approaches.J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2014; 42: 265-271https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcms.2013.07.033
- Proportionality in Asian and North American Caucasian faces using neoclassical facial canons as criteria.Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2002; 26: 64-69https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-001-0033-7
- Anthropometry of the Head and Face. Second edition. Raven Press, New York1994
- The prevalence of facial asymmetry in the dentofacial deformities population at the University of North Carolina.Int J Adult Orthodon Orthognath Surg. 1997; 12: 171-176
- The ideal of facial beauty: a review.J Orofac Orthop. 2007; 68: 6-16https://doi.org/10.1007/s00056-007-0604-6
- International anthropometric study of facial morphology in various ethnic groups/races.J Craniofac Surg. 2005; 16: 615-646https://doi.org/10.1097/01.scs.0000171847.58031.9e
- The concept of anthropometric facial asymmetry.in: Preedy V.R. Handbook of Anthropometry. Springer, New York2012: 625-639https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1788-1
- Asymmetry of the face in orthodontic patients.Angle Orthod. 2008; 78: 421-426https://doi.org/10.2319/022107-85.1
- Facial aesthetics: 2. Clinical assessment.Dent Update. 2008; 35: 159-170https://doi.org/10.12968/denu.2008.35.3.159
- Facial asymmetry in patients with cervicobrachial pain and headache.J Oral Rehabil. 2001; 28 (doi: 10. 10.1046/j.1365-2842.2001.00766.x): 1009-1014
- Variability of facial photographs for use in treatment planning for orthodontics and orthognathic surgery.Int J Adult Orthodon Orthognath Surg. 1997; 12: 197-203
- Distance from symmetry: a three-dimensional evaluation of facial asymmetry.J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 1994; 52: 1126-1132https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-2391(94)90528-2
- Skeletal asymmetry in esthetically pleasing faces.Angle Orthod. 1991; 61: 43-48https://doi.org/10.1043/0003-3219(1991)061<0043:SAIEPF>2.0.CO;2
- Dental and facial asymmetries: a review.Angle Orthod. 1994; 64: 89-98
- Morphological features of smile attractiveness and related factors influence perception and gingival aesthetic parameters.Int Dent J. 2022; 72: 67-75
- Upper lip asymmetry during smiling: an analysis using three-dimensional images.Turk J Orthod. 2018; 31: 32-36https://doi.org/10.5152/TurkJOrthod.2018.17056
- Craniofacial anthropometric norms of Malays.Singap Med J. 2009; 50: 525-528
- Craniofacial anthropometric norms of Malaysian Indians.Indian J Dent Res. 2009; 20: 313-319https://doi.org/10.4103/0970-9290.57372
- Three-dimensional assessment of facial asymmetry using dense correspondence, symmetry, and midline analysis.Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop. 2020; 158: 134-146https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajodo.2019.12.014
- Facial asymmetry index in normal young adults.Orthod Craniofac Res. 2013; 16: 97-104https://doi.org/10.1111/ocr.12010
- The effect of facial symmetry on perceptions of personality and attractiveness.J Res Pers. 2003; 37: 339-347https://doi.org/10.1016/S0092-6566(03)00022-9
- Attractiveness of natural faces compared to computer constructed perfectly symmetrical faces.Int J Neurosci. 2007; 117: 423-431https://doi.org/10.1080/00207450600581928
- Upper lip asymmetry in adults during smiling.J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2001; 59: 396-398https://doi.org/10.1053/joms.2001.21874
- Psychological consequences of surgery.Psychosom Med. 1989; 51: 356-370https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198905000-00010
- Implications of facial asymmetry in rhinoplasty.Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017; 140: 510-516https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0000000000003606
- Rhinoplasty and facial asymmetry: analysis of subjective and anthropometric factors in the Caucasian nose.Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2012; 16: 445-451https://doi.org/10.7162/S1809-97772012000400004
- Soft-tissue facial asymmetry before and after orthognathic surgery: application of a new 3D protocol.Stomatol Edu J. 2018; 5: 98-101https://doi.org/10.25241/stomaeduj.2018.5(2).art.3
Article info
Publication history
Published online: October 08, 2022
Accepted:
September 26,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 International Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
