OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine how aware the individuals were of their own profile and to compare the orthodontist's perception of an attractive facial profile with those of laypeople, dental students and orthodontic patients. METHODS The study comprised of a total of 200 subjects divided into four groups of 50 subjects each: Laypeople, first-year dental students, final-year dental students and orthodontic patients. Participants answered a questionnaire regarding facial profile and their expectations from orthodontic treatment. The facial profile photographs of participants were analyzed by two orthodontists separately who matched the individual to the depicted silhouettes. Agreement between participants and orthodontists was evaluated by using the statistic χ(2) test. RESULTS Dental students and orthodontic patients were more aware of their facial profile as compared to the laypeople. The four groups were different in their abilities to recognize their own profiles. The difference in profile perception between orthodontists and subjects was statistically significant (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Class I profiles were perceived to be the most attractive by all the groups and profiles with a protrusive mandible were perceived to be the least attractive. Final-year dental students and orthodontic patients were more accurate in identifying their own profile.