Contribution of orofacial esthetic to the development of the concept of body image and to satisfaction with life of adult individuals

Abstract

Body image is a multidimensional concept defined as the mental representation that an individual makes of his/her body. The most common approach used to assess this image is attitudinal. The attitudinal dimension of body image is composed of affective, cognitive, behavioral aspects and general subjective satisfaction. Therefore, the construction of this concept occurs by the simultaneous structuring of these aspects. The satisfaction with body image represents the appreciation of the individual in relation to specific parts of the body. There is no instrument in the literature that evaluates this aspect considering all the parts of the body simultaneously. For this reason, association of measuring instruments is necessary. It should be emphasized that studies generally do not consider the impact of orofacial esthetic in this context. This fact deserves attention since the face (teeth, gum, mouth, smile, facial profile) may be important in the composition of the individual's body image and this may interfere with his/her general well-being. The literature has highlighted the importance of orofacial esthetic as an interfering component in the social insertion of the individual, but despite this, it has been poorly explored. Aims: i) to elaborate a concept of body image associating different component aspects including orofacial esthetic; ii) to estimate the impact of body image components on the perception of orofacial esthetic of adult individuals; iii) to verify the influence of orofacial esthetic on the oral health impact profile on adult and iv) to evaluate the influence of body image, oral health impact profile, satisfaction/psychosocial impact of orofacial esthetic, demographic and clinical characteristics on the satisfaction with life of adult individuals. Methods: This is an observational study with a non-probabilistic sampling design. Two study samples, adult individuals (age between 18 and 40 years) from the community of Araraquara (normative sample) and individuals seeking dental treatment at the School of Dentistry of Araraquara (UNESP) will be delineated. The minimum sample size should be 700 individuals for each sample. Considering that the concept of body image is perceived differently between men and women, the minimum sample size should also be reached for each gender. Demographic and clinical (self-referenced) information will be collected. Body image and orofacial esthetic will be evaluated by the instruments: Attention to Body Shape Scale (ABS), Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS), Body Checking and Avoidance Questionnaire (BCAQ), Escala Situacional de Satisfação Corporal (ESSC), Orofacial Esthetic Scale (OES) and Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ). The oral health impact profile on individuals' lives will be evaluated by the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) and life satisfaction will be estimated by Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS). The face, construct (factorial, convergent, concurrent and divergent) and discriminant criterion validities will be estimated. Confirmatory factor analysis with robust estimation of Weighted Least Squares Mean and Adjusted Variance (WLSMV) will be used. Reliability will be estimated in terms of internal consistency ( - Cronbach's alpha coefficient) and Composite Reliability (CR). After the fit of the instruments to the data, structural equation analysis will be used to prepare four structural models seeking to respond the proposed aims. Models should be tested for total sample and for subsamples of interest. (AU)