SMILE ESTHETICS-A REVIEW

medical health care

Physical attractiveness is an important social issue and the face is one of its key features. An attractive smile in modern society is often considered an asset in interviews, work settings, social interactions and even the quest to attract a mate. Improvement in facial esthetics is also a powerful motivation for seeking treatment; therefore, orthodontic treatment should carefully consider a patient’s facial appearance and particularly his or her smile. The esthetic considerations are paramount in treatment planning; however rigid rules cannot be applied to this process because of an infinite variety of faces could be esthetically pleasing. There are two forms of smiles—the enjoyment or Duchenne smile and the posed or social smile. The posed smile is voluntary and not elicited by an emotion. In other words, it is reliably reproducible and can be sustained. The various aspects of smile anatomy are the degree of maxillary anterior tooth display (Morley’s ratio), upper lip drape and gingival display, buccal corridor, smile arc etc. In a youthful smile, most of the maxillary central incisors should be positioned below an imaginary line drawn between the commissural lines. A perusal of the literature reveals that various vertical skeletal patterns present with their characteristic dento-skeletal and soft tissue features. A few studies reported that smile characteristics change with changing vertical skeletal dimensionsThis article presents the concepts of various smile parameters and how they relates to orthodontics—from the recognition of their importance and their impacts on orthodontic treatment planning, to how procedures and mechanics are adapted to optimize the appearance of the smile.

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