The correlation between selected factors which influence dental aesthetics

This study evaluated the inter-relationship between five aesthetic factors: the form of the face, tooth and arch, maxillary anterior tooth arrangement and palatal contour. An assessment was made to determine if correlation was sufficient to recommend their use as reliable aesthetic factors for the selection of suitable tooth moulds for edentulous and partially edentulous patients. This would enable the clinician to select a tooth mould at the chairside, based on an evaluation of the individual's aesthetic factors where, for example, the maxillary incisors should have the same outline shape as the individual's face. A computer program was developed incorporating images of the factors taken from 50 Caucasian adults aged 20-31 years and assessment of correlation made by outline superimposition and classification. The objectives were to design a computer program to analyse, classify and evaluate correlation between the five factors in each case by superimposition and classification. Correlation by superimposition recorded some concurrence between forms. The findings of this study suggest that there was insufficient correlation to support Nelson's 'Aesthetic Triangle', or Williams' face form/tooth theory. The incidence of correlation by classification between anterior tooth arrangement and arch form was sufficiently high to suggest their value as an aesthetic aid.