COMPARISON OF MAXILLOFACIAL SPECIALIST’S AND LAYPERSON’S PERCEPTION OF FACIAL ASYMMETRY: A PILOT STUDY

Abstract

The objective of this research was to compare the perception threshold of facial asymmetry between maxillofacial specialists and laypersons. The experiment involved 40 participants (20 per group) who viewed 51 random facial photos. These photos displayed asymmetry levels ranging from 1.0 mm to 10.0 mm, with 10 photos per organ (chin, angle of mandible, nose, mouth, and eye), plus one original photo. Participants were asked to estimate whether each photo was symmetrical. The results revealed that data for all organs within each group did not follow a normal distribution. There was no significant difference (p < 0.05) in the perception of chin asymmetry (p = 0.056), with maxillofacial specialists perceiving it at 2.0 mm and laypersons at 3.0 mm. However, significant differences were found for the angle of the mandible (p = 0.002; maxillofacial specialists: 3.0 mm, laypersons: 4.0 mm), nose (p = 0.008; maxillofacial specialists: 3.0 mm, laypersons: 4.0 mm), mouth (p = 0.038; maxillofacial specialists: 1.0 mm, laypersons: 3.0 mm), and eye (p = 0.001; maxillofacial specialists: 1.0 mm, laypersons: 2.0 mm). Conclusion: Maxillofacial specialists demonstrated higher sensitivity in perceiving asymmetry for all organs studied compared to laypersons.