Citation

Hartmann GC, Di Scala Andreis PK, Gasparello GG, Tanaka OM. Am. J. Orthod. Dentofacial. Orthop. 2022; 162(4): 437-438.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.ajodo.2022.06.009

PMID

36182200

Abstract

A recent article published online in March 2022 (Al-Bitar ZB, Sonbol HN, Al-Omari IK, Badran SA, Naini FB, Al-Omiri MK, et al. Self-harm, dentofacial features, and bullying. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2022;162:80-92) addresses a behavioral issue of considerable interest to society and, therefore, to contemporary orthodontics. The purpose of this letter to the editor is to congratulate the authors for the article presenting data that elucidates the relationship between self-mutilation and dentofacial characteristics and to provide some comments. The social and psychological effects of dentofacial appearance and the bullying in response to adolescent dentofacial characteristics are presented in this article. An important and striking finding of this research is that the 3 most common dentofacial features that contribute to self-harm as a result of bullying were tooth color and shape, gaps between teeth or missing teeth, and prominent maxillary anterior teeth.

Language: en