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Dental art in prosthodontics

1969; Elsevier BV; Volume: 21; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/0022-3913(69)90084-5

1097-6841

Dayton Dunbar Krajicek,

Anatomy and Medical Technology

Dental art does not occur automatically. It must be purposely and carefully incorporated into the treatment plan by the dentist (Fig. 7). This artistry strives to soften the marks imposed upon the face by time and enables people to face their world with renewed enthusiasm and confidence. Prosthodontics in this area truly involves much more than mechanics. Bone resorption of the residual alveolar processes, for example, holds special interest for our specialty since the ever-changing ridges provide support for dentures. Very little is known about it, except that it does occur. Studies concerning the repair of alveoli after tooth extraction fail to examine area after bony repair is considered to be complete. We do not know how the resorptive process takes place in the endentulous ridge or how soon it is initiated after tooth loss. Perioral wrinkling and creasing of the angles of the mouth are of major concern to some of our endentulous patients. Plastic surgery will not solve these problems for us, as we may have thought in the past. We do know that it is not necessary, or even desirable, to erase these facial lines completely through prosthodontic therapy, for then the lower third of the face would be in complete disharmony with the rest of the face. The anatomy and neurophysiology of the maxillofacial complex identify the face of each person as an individual human being. We must develop a better understanding in order to continue to serve the needs of our edentulous patients. Dental art, unfortunately, has a limited life-span. It is extremely important that both the dentist and the patient understand this concept because the background of living tissue which provides the framework for dentures is constantly changing. Dental art can provide a natural appearance to the orofacial regions and can harmonize the appearance of the lower third of the face with the total facial appearance. This is accomplished with appropriate tooth forms positioned in natural compositions. The importance of dental art lies in the meaning of this statement: “My physician keeps me alive but my dentist makes my life worth living.”