Facial Anthropometry and Aesthetic Preferences in Malay Women: A Comparative Study The study aimed to explore the relationship between Malay females’ facial attractiveness with golden ratio, neoclassical canons, “ideal” ratios and “ideal” angles; and to compare self-perceived facial attractiveness and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Malay females with different skeletal patterns. Sixty-four young Malay female participants each completed a set of self-administered questionnaires and have five facial photographs taken. The self-assessed satisfaction with facial appearance and HRQoL were compared between participants with different dentoskeletal patterns. Seventy-seven facial anthropometry parameters related to the golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ideal ratios and ideal angles were measured. Subsequently, 15 sets of photographs representing different skeletal patterns were randomly selected. A panel of juries evaluated facial attractiveness using a 7-point Likert scale. The correlation between facial attractiveness and measured parameters was studied. Results indicated that mean rank FACE-Q Rasch scores of participants’ self-rated satisfaction on their facial appearance and HRQoL were not significantly different statistically (p = 0.06–0.81) between Class I, II and III. One hundred and eighty juries (mean 24.33±3.82 years old) were recruited. No statistically significant correlations found between facial attractiveness rated by juries and measured parameters related to the golden ratio (r = –0.47 to 0.36; p = 0.08 to 0.98), neoclassical canons (r = –0.27 to 0.43; p = 0.11 to 0.96), ideal ratios (r = –0.32 to 0.47; p = 0.08 to 0.96) and ideal angles (r = –0.23 to 0.28; p = 0.31 to 0.92). In conclusion, the study found that the golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ideal ratios, and ideal angles were not found to be correlated with the facial attractiveness of Malay females. Therefore, these guidelines should be used with discretion during treatment planning and outcome assessment for this specific ethnic group.

Background: The established recommendations and guidelines regarding ideal measurements for an attractive face are mostly based on data gathered among Caucasian population. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between perception of 3-dimensional facial attractiveness and golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ‘ideal’ ratios and ‘ideal’ angles in Hong Kong Chinese. Methods: Thirty 3-D photographs (15 males and 15 females) were shown to 101 laypersons and 60 patients seeking orthognathic treatment. The photographs were rated based on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS) from 0 (very unattractive) to 100 (very attractive). Results: More than half of the measurements (42/77) in females and thirty-two measurements in males were found to be significantly different from the ideal target value (p < 0.05) upon the comparison of the attractive faces with golden ratio, neoclassical canons, ‘ideal’ ratios and ‘ideal’ angles. Meanwhile, correlation tests between VAS scores and the parameters detected significant results (p < 0.05) in only six ratios, eight angles, one neoclassical canon and one proportion. Conclusions Despite several renowned ‘ideal’ parameters of attractive faces that have been recommended in the literature, only a few of them were found to be significantly correlated with attractive faces in Hong Kong Chinese.