Online research using photo can be used to evaluate facial attractiveness in dentistry? A systematic review

Abstract

Dental Surgeons have presented more and more difficulties in meeting the aesthetic desires of their patients since the esthetic norms in force presuppose only two standards of beauty: masculine or feminine. However, contemporary society is increasingly diverse and demanding due to new behavioral patterns and hyper value of the image, which are influenced by the use of social networks. Online research using images has the potential to reveal more valued patterns for different social groups and, consequently, contribute to better professional training and to the success of dental treatments. However, the possibility of undue disclosure of the images used in these studies violates the precepts of Resolution 466/2012 of the Ministry of Health and may make the use of this research tool unfeasible by Brazilian researchers. The present nonclinical systematic review proposes to investigate if there is evidence that online surveys with the use of photographs, can not be performed in Brazil for ethical reasons. Online research articles with photographs to evaluate facial attractiveness published in the last 10 years at PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and SciELO databases will be selected and analyzed by two independent researchers. Data on the year of publication, the origin of the study, approval of the ethics committee, objective, tested intervention, qualification of the evaluators, characteristics of the photographs used, a criterion for judgment of facial attractiveness and obtained result will be tabulated and evaluated in a descriptive and inferential multivariate) for ± = 0.05.