Social, intellectual, psychological, and attractiveness judgements of lay people about patients before and after combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment

Background Facial appearance plays a significant role in the success of social interactions. There is a limited amount of evidence investigating the influence of combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment on the social judgments of lay people. Objective The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes in facial appearance following orthognathic surgery alter the social judgements made by lay people. Ethical approval Ethical approval was granted from the University of Sheffield School of Clinical Dentistry Research Ethics Committee on 17th August 2020 (Reference: 033775). Materials and methods This cross-sectional, web-based survey involved clinical photographs of six Caucasian female patients pre- and post-combined orthodontic-orthognathic treatment. Three patients had a pre-treatment class 2 skeletal pattern, and three patients had a pre-treatment class 3 skeletal pattern. Staff and students at the University of Sheffield, UK were invited to evaluate five personality traits: (i) friendliness, (ii) intelligence, (iii) attractiveness, (iv) self-confidence, and (5) trustworthiness using a 5-point Likert scale. The trait scores were summed to obtain a total social judgement score, and a paired t-test was used to compare the total scores from pre- and post-treatment images. Results There were 261 responses to the survey of which 181 (75%) were completed fully. The total social judgement scores from after treatment images were higher compared with the pre-treatment images (mean diff 1.6; P < .001) indicating more positive social judgements. The improvements in perceived social judgments were more notable for class 3 patients (mean diff 2.7) compared to class 2 patients (mean diff 0.7). Conclusion Social judgement scores were higher (more positive) from post-treatment images of patient faces than their pre-treatment images. The findings highlight the possible indirect benefits combined orthodontic-orthognathic surgical treatment may have on an individual in a social setting.