Why you never need to guess about position or contour of front teeth

Form follows function.

We’ve all heard the old adage everywhere, in all facets of life. And when it comes to anterior teeth we have to think of it as if we can get the function dialed in and honed in really well, the esthetics effortlessly fall into place.

Lingual vs. labial

So let’s try to break this down and make it simple. Let’s pick two sides, the lingual side and the labial side of a front tooth. The lingual side is our functional component. It’s where our centric stops are. It’s where the envelope of function is in harmony with the anterior guidance.

Let the contours fall into place

And then if we get this dialed in and honed in really well, we can then turn to the labial side of the tooth and allow the contours and the natural esthetics to fall in place with the lips to get our three distinct facial planes, to get the surface texture, the translucency, and micro-esthetics all in place. So again, the lingual is our functional blueprint. The labial is our gorgeous esthetics that the patient’s typically more concerned with. So again, form follows function.

To learn more about esthetics and smile design consider the Core 1: Occlusion Smile Design