I often get asked what does an ideal bite look like, how should teeth meet together, that sort of thing. That’s very important, because working to achieve that is what we do at Swords Orthodontics day in, day out. But there’s a bit more to it than that – you have to think about the teeth in the context of the jaws and the jaws in the context of the face and the jaw joint and muscle systems (and don’t forget the tongue is a big muscle too). Sooooo, the question is......
What makes a great face?
Well that is often a matter of opinion and I did a blog about it years ago. But when you get a group of people to choose examples of a good looking face there are certain features, within a typical range, in a face that seem to come up regularly. Some of them are basic numbers, some are proportions, some of it is a sense of symmetry. It can change with the race of the person as well. It can be different in a resting face compared to the smiling face or the face when someone is moving or speaking.
And the teeth and jaws have a place within that face.
They play a part in the shape of the face.
I don’t intend to tell people what their face should look like. A few people come to me knowing that their jaws meet incorrectly and need help to fix this, a few of them might come to me knowing there are problems with the shape of their face and want this fixed and they figured an orthodontist is a place to start.
But most come to me with a problem with their teeth.
Some of those problems with the teeth are part of a bigger problem with the jaws or the shape of their face skeleton, and even though they don't see it I have to spot that and give them the appropriate information to make decisions about their treatment.
Sometimes fixing the teeth alone will make underlying problems with the face look worse. Occasionally, fixing the teeth will help improve the facial appearance. Most of the time, it won’t make much difference. But most of the time isn’t all of the time, and the cases where you have to factor in problems with the teeth, jaws and face can be very interesting and make a huge difference for the patient when they’re corrected.