Smile esthetics: calculated beauty?

Esthetic demand from patients continues to increase. Consequently, the treatments we offer are moving towards more discreet or invisible techniques using lingual brackets in order to achieve harmonious, balanced results in line with our treatment goals. As orthodontists, we act upon relationships between teeth and bone. And the equilibrium they create impacts the entire face via the smile. A balanced smile is essential to an esthetic outcome and is governed by rules, which guide both the practitioner and patient. A smile can be described in terms of mathematical ratios and proportions but beauty cannot be calculated. For the smile to sit harmoniously within the face, we need to take into account facial proportions and the possibility of their being modified by our orthopedic appliances or by surgery.