Facial Aesthetics and AI Meet in Dentistry

Faculty members Dr. Dt. Yasemin Tözün and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müjgan Fırıncıoğulları from the Faculty of Dentistry from Cyprus International University (CIU) presented two oral presentations at the 4th International NEU Dentistry Congress, held at the Selçuklu Congress Center in Konya. Their research addressed the perception of facial aesthetics and artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis in dentistry.

Dr. Dt. Yasemin Tözün presented a study entitled “Perception of Facial Profile Attractiveness in Skeletal Class I, II, and III Malocclusions,” which she co-authored with Assist. Prof. Dr. İsmail Ata Orgun and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hülya Şenol. Examining how facial profiles with different skeletal characteristics are perceived, the study focused on the evaluation of facial aesthetics in orthodontics. It aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between aesthetic perception, orthodontic treatment objectives, and individual expectations.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müjgan Fırıncıoğulları presented a paper entitled “Automatic Deep Learning-Based Segmentation of the Lingual Foramen in Panoramic Radiographs: A Preliminary Artificial Intelligence Study,” which she co-authored with Nurullah Akkaya. The study examined 1,000 panoramic radiographs, in which 312 lingual foramina were annotated through expert evaluation. A deep learning model based on U²-Net was evaluated for the automatic identification of this anatomical structure.

The preliminary findings indicated that the model demonstrated moderate segmentation performance and had the potential to support clinicians in radiographic assessments. While the study provides a research foundation for developing artificial intelligence applications that could be used in implant and surgical treatment planning, it was noted that further studies involving larger and more diverse datasets are needed to validate the model's clinical applicability.

The two presentations delivered by academics from the CIU Faculty of Dentistry brought together scientific research on aesthetic perception in orthodontics and artificial intelligence-assisted radiographic analysis. The studies contributed to the dissemination of academic research conducted across different disciplines of dentistry at international scientific platforms.