BACKGROUND:
In the aesthetic rhinoplasty, the ideal nasolabial (NL) angle is made in the range of 90° to 120°. We aimed to verify the most aesthetic NL angle from a sample of the general population and determine whether age, gender, race, education were independent predictors.
METHODS:
We recruited 102 prospective volunteers as a sample from the general population. They were asked to rank three different NL angles for a female nose (100°, 105°, and 110°) and a male nose (90°, 100°, and 105°) as “most aesthetic”, “moderate aesthetic”, and “least aesthetic”. Demographical data was used to determine correlations between aesthetic preferences. Pearson Chi square test and student t-test were to determine statistical significance.
RESULTS:
The most aesthetic female NL angle was 104.9° ± 4.0° and the most aesthetic male NL angle was 97.0° ± 6.3°. The majority of volunteers (38.2%) ranked female nose 2 (105°) as the most aesthetic nose as compared to (32.3%) nose 1 (100°) and (31.3%) nose 3 (110°). The majority of volunteers ranked male (44%) nose 1 (90°) and (34%) nose 2 (100°) as the “most aesthetic” nose. Volunteers above the age of 50 years preferred more obtuse NL angles (105°) of the male nose as compared to younger volunteers (90°). Males preferred more acute NL angles (90°) of the male nose as compared to females (100°). Native Americans and Blacks preferred more acute male NL angles as compared to Caucasians and Asians. College graduates preferred male nose 2 (100°). Volunteers who had a previous a rhinoplasty showed a preference to the male nose 2 as compared to those who did not have a rhinoplasty who preferred male nose 1.
CONCLUSIONS:
In our sample of the general population, the ideal and most aesthetic NL angle ranges from 100.9° to 108.9° in the female nose and ranges from 90.7° to 103.3° in males. Age, gender, race, education, and having had a previous rhinoplasty were predictors of male nose NL angles but did not change preference of the female NL angle.