Introduction In dental practice, patients often evaluate their own dental attractiveness using mirrors or smartphone digital reflections. This study aimed to investigate how mirror size, shape, magnification and smartphone-based digital reflection influence self-perceived dental attractiveness. Materials and methods This was a prospective cross-sectional study. Eighty-three participants assessed their dental attractiveness using a randomised sequence of reflective devices, including mirrors of different sizes (full-length, medium, small, standard pocket), a magnified pocket mirror, a tooth-shaped mirror, and a smartphone front-facing camera. Ratings were recorded on a 10-point visual analogue scale. Data were analysed using repeated-measures ANOVA with Bonferroni-adjusted post hoc comparisons. Intra-rater reliability was evaluated in a subset of participants using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results Repeated-measures ANOVA indicated a significant overall effect of device type on dental attractiveness (F(4.62, 378.83) = 15.57, p 0.05). The magnified pocket mirror and tooth-shaped mirror were rated significantly lower than other devices (p < 0.001). Intra-rater reliability was generally poor (ICC < 0.35), with only the medium-size and tooth-shaped mirrors showing moderate agreement (ICC = 0.59 and 0.63, respectively). Conclusion Reflective device type influences self-perceived dental attractiveness. Standard mirrors of different sizes and smartphone reflections produced similar and generally favourable ratings. In contrast, magnified and tooth-shaped mirrors yielded lower ratings. Poor intra-rater reliability suggests that self-assessment based on reflection alone is inconsistent.
Shahrul et al. (Fri,) studied this question.