Background: Facial appearance often plays a vital role in forming an impression of others, especially during the initial stages of acquaintance. The impression one gets of the other person during this initial encounter is often a long lasting one and could be either positive or negative at different times. Looks, however, play an important role during this first impression. Materials & Methods: The attractiveness of different smile variables on the perception of smile esthetics was evaluated. The study consisted of 3 groups of evaluators: General dentists (100), dental students (100) and patients (100). 4 pleasant smile pictures of young females were selected and modified with one esthetic parameter each of midline diastema, crown length, gingival display, and midline shift. Results: A small amount of space between the maxillary central incisors was not rated as unattractive by any group. The general dentists and dental students were more critical than patients when evaluating midline diastema discrepancy. The general dentists and dental students did not perceive a change in attractiveness until the midline shift was 3mm. While the patients did not perceive any change in attractiveness even at the maximum of 4mm shift. A reduction of maxillary lateral incisor by 1.5mm was rated unattractive by the general dentists and the dental students while patients perception for attractive smile changed when the crown length was reduced to 2mm. Conclusion: The type and degree of deviation from the norm and the opinion of the patient need to be taken into consideration. Among all the four esthetic parameters, midline diastema was more unattractive for all the groups. So, correction of this parameter by the dental professional is of paramount importance for a better esthetic result.