{
  "id": 18810373,
  "title": "People prefer slightly protruding jaws over perfectly straight facial profiles",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/07/people-prefer-slightly-protruding-jaws-over-perfectly-straight-facial",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-07T23:00:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "PsyPost",
    "slug": "psypost",
    "url": "https://www.psypost.org/public-prefers-slightly-protruding-jaws-over-perfectly-straight-facial-profiles/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent survey has revealed that many people prefer facial profiles where the upper jaw slightly protrudes over those with perfectly straight profiles. The study, published in the Journal of Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery, suggests surgeons and orthodontists should consider the aesthetic tastes of regular people instead of solely relying on clinical measurements. Facial features play a crucial role in social communication and signaling, with the human brain developing neural circuits to recognize facial patterns. Attractiveness is both a biological marker of reproductive fitness and a social construct that affects how individuals are perceived. In reconstructive and cosmetic procedures, achieving a balanced, visually pleasing appearance is essential, as facial structures heavily influence public perception. Orthognathic surgery, which repositions facial bones, modifies the underlying skeletal support. Traditionally, clinicians use cephalometric analysis to plan these operations, relying on reference lines and geometric angles to determine harmonious facial profiles. However, the mathematical ideals of medical professionals may not align with the aesthetic preferences of the general public. The Italian researchers behind this study aimed to capture the perspectives of everyday people by surveying a random population of 135 individuals, ranging from age eighteen to fifty. Participants rated eighteen profile images, depicting different jaw alignments, on a scale from one (unattractive) to five (extremely attractive). The normal facial profiles were generally rated as moderately attractive, with a score of three out of five. Surprisingly, profiles showing an upper jaw that protruded forward received high attractiveness scores, with more than thirty percent of participants rating these images four out of five. Conversely, misalignments like protruding lower jaws (underbites) received mostly low scores of one or two. The preference for protruding upper jaws and the relatively neutral response to receding upper jaws highlights the discrepancy between clinical norms and public aesthetic tastes. These findings have significant implications for surgical planning, as common procedures like the Le Fort I osteotomy may need to be adapted based on these evolutionary-established preferences.",
  "summary": "A recent survey reveals that everyday people prefer facial profiles with slightly protruding upper jaws over perfectly neutral alignments, highlighting a gap between clinical geometric ideals and actual public aesthetic tastes.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}