Abstract
This doctoral project is presented in a hybrid format where publishable material are structured as distinct thesis chapters. Five main chapters discuss smiling from different dimensions in the context of the respective orthodontic patient.
CHAPTER 1 – A qualitative meta-synthesis of research into patients’ past experiences and perceptions of orthodontic treatment outcomes
The introductory chapter to the present work. A review and synthesis of past research into orthodontic patients’ experiences with treatment and some important factors influencing their perception of their achieved outcomes. Highlights within this chapter suggest that smiling is centrally placed and is of due importance to the orthodontic patient.
CHAPTER 2 – What's in a smile? A literature Review
A literature review overlying the general physiologic and anatomical aspects of smiles. It discusses factors affecting the propensity towards smiling and different methods utilised in smile analysis. Based on these points, literature gaps – especially in relation to oral health and orthodontics – could be identified, building a premise for the development of the later chapters.
CHAPTER 3 – Automated Detection of Smiles
A presentation of the development and validation of a pattern-recognition algorithm for smiles. An overview of the implemented methods is detailed. Also, subsequent results of its validation on a representative sample of participants are represented. The final part of this chapter presents a discussion around the developmental and validation phases and ends with the overall conclusions.
CHAPTER 4 – Malocclusion severity and features of smile: is there an association?
This is a core dissertation chapter and a continuation to the work presented within the previous chapters. It presents an observational study aiming to understand whether an association exists between malocclusion severity and different smile features based on automated smile detection and analysis algorithms. The observational design, implemented methods, results, discussion and conclusions are all presented in orderly fashion detailing different aspects of this chapter.
CHAPTER 5 – General discussion and future directions
A chapter that provides a general commentary relating all previous chapters. It discusses expectations from prospective research into this particular stream and provides future directions. In addition, it presents different challenges encountered with Covid-19 during the overall doctoral project.