How we assess faces according to dental and facial morphology.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
How we assess faces according to dental and facial morphology – an eye-tracking study.
IRAS ID
168261
Contact name
Peter Hepper
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
PREC 46-2014 , Queen's University Psychology Research Ethics Committee
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 0 days
Research summary
This study aims to explore how dentofacial discrepancies (jaw and dental anomalies) influence the way in which people observe an individual's face. The face is usually the first part of the human anatomy we encounter when we meet someone. As such we can form opinions about the people we meet from the appearance of their face; therefore this initial assessment may determine how they are perceived and consequently are treated throughout their lives, thus affecting the psychological development of the individual.
Eye-tracking methodology will be employed to determine how people with dentofacial discrepancies (the study will use photographs of these individuals) are observed by others. The eye-tracker uses an infrared scanner to track the surface of the participant's eye while they look at any photograph displayed on a screen; this allows us to determine exactly where and for how long participants look at different regions of the faces displayed before them.
The participants will be ‘naïve’ or ‘experienced’ with regard to facial anomalies. Naïve individuals will be those who do not work with or treat individuals with such anomalies. It is expected these participants will be students/staff of the University. Experienced participants will be those who do work with or treat individuals with such anomalies. It is expected these participants will be students/staff of the Queen’s University Dental School.
Additionally the participants will rate the attractiveness of the photographs allowing researchers to determine which anomalies, at which level of severity, will detrimentally affect the perceived attractiveness. This will enable the researchers to detect whether people look at people with dentofacial anomalies in a different way to those without such an anomaly.
The results can be used in the planning of treatment for such individuals and in the planning and management of healthcare resources in the future.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
15/NI/0082
Date of REC Opinion
19 May 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion