Don't forget about the lower front teeth...
Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 7:12PM Do you ever look at someone when they speak? I mean closesly…looking at their mouths? I know you do, it’s just that you only consciously notice it if something is wrong with their teeth. Watch the mouth of the person reading the news on TV for example. What do you see? If you watch carefully you will notice that you see their lower teeth, usually much more than their upper teeth. 
look at the lower anterior teethSo why do I bring this up? Because when patients ask me for an esthetic makeover of their smile they have in mind the kind of beautiful smile I made for the young lady you see in my banner at the top of the page. When I ask them about their lower teeth, often they want to delay treating them until much later. Lower teeth show quite a bit in normal everyday use. As we age, upper teeth actually show less and less. The upper lip lengthens as we age… 1mm for every 10 years after 40. It doesn’t sound like a lot but when the average young female shows only 3-4 mm of their upper teeth when their lips are at rest…not smiling widely , it’s a lot.
So they show more than you think. And the lower teeth fit into the curved tongue side of the upper teeth and therefore guide the jaw as you move it to eat and speak.
side view tracing of tooth positions
So don’t forget about the lower front teeth, they’re really important too.