Perspective of facial esthetics in dental treatment planning

Enhancement of facial beauty is one of the primary elective goals of patients seeking dental care. The lower one third of the face has a major impact on the perception of facial esthetics. Frequently improvements in natural beauty can be expected to follow restoration of ideal relationships between the denture and the facial soft tissues. By improving deficient facial proportion and integumental form, surgeons, orthodontists, and restorative dentists have the unique opportunity to address these esthetic needs. Comprehensive evaluation that relates the facial soft tissues to underlying skeletal form provides this possibility. Fundamental relationships exist that allow correlation of deficiencies in facial form to existing dentoalveolar anatomy. Classical evaluation of mounted casts and occlusal analysis does not offer this insight.