For nearly a century, orthodontists have mainly focused on occlusion as the primary objective of orthodontic therapy. Today, patients are increasingly seeking treatment to improve their facial appearance. Improving dental esthetics and occlusion, particularly in the adult, should not compromise facial and smile esthetics. When orthodontic treatment alone may not fully address facial and smile esthetics, additional surgical and cosmetic procedures can bridge the gap between esthetics and function. Planning treatment from a profile view and static records and following rigid guidelines is no longer adequate. The key to facial esthetic planning is a comprehensive clinical examination focusing on smile esthetics, lip-tooth relationship, anterior tooth displays at rest and during facial animation, facial proportions, symmetry and soft tissue (facial and gingival) coverage. The aim of this lecture is to show clinical examples of patients whose clinical examination, records evaluation and treatment planning have focused on facial and smile esthetics, and how interdisciplinary and well-coordinated treatment approaches have enhanced the overall esthetic outcomes which are critical for patient satisfaction.


Learning Objectives
After this lecture, you will be able to learn when to offer orthognathic surgery when orthodontic treatment alone is expected to produce suboptimal results.
After this lecture, you will be able to consider various adjunct procedures to reach optimal esthetic outcomes
After this lecture, you will be able to learn to develop individual interdisciplinary treatment strategies to optimize facial and smile esthetics