How and why we evaluate the “E Position”

Evaluating the E position is part of our 2D checklist when we’re going through to really determine where the length of the incisor ledge is.

When you have a patient say E with exaggerated lip movement you want them to really open up and say E and take a photo of that.

Then what you’re doing is you’re measuring the space between the upper lip, the lower lip, and where those incisor edges are. Ideally, we’d like to have those upper incisor ledges between 50 and 70 percent. If they’re on the low end or short end, then that gives us a clue that we may need to add a little bit of length to that.

Following the other checklists that are going through there, that might be for the 2D.

It is also important to explain to the patient why we need this test. That might be telling the patient “Hey, we’re doing the E position during your exam today. The E position can indicate if we need to lengthen that incisor ledge a little. Let’s see if we can do that and then incorporate that into the 3D checklist.” So, the how and why I evaluate the E position is another step in the 2D checklist to actually check on length of the upper incisor ledges.