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CHAPTER XXV.

tSe development of esthetic facial contours.

By Calvin S. Case, D. D. S., M. D.

I. Influence of the Teeth on the Physiognomy.
In the developmental processes of animal life the teeth have proba-
bly been more influential than any of the other organs in shaping the
bones of the head—especially in determining the physical characteristics
of the physiognomy. The physical shape and structure of tlie jaws
conclusively show the influence that the teeth have exerted in diiferent
species in response to Nature's law to propagate that which would best
subserve them in the performance of their functions. The importance
of the teeth, therefore, and their inherent demand upon surrounding
anatomical structures for proper means of development, sustenance, and
use, is evidence that they exert, during development, a more or less im-
mediate influence in determining the size and shape of the maxillary
bones, and thus indirectly are extensively influential in characterizing
the individual shape of the human face.
Often the position of the anterior teeth and alveolar process is such
as to impress upon the contiguous features, even in repose, certain con-
ditions which vary from a slight imperfection in esthetic contour to a
most distressing facial deformity. Nor are these dento-facial imperfec-
tions always wholly due to a malposition of the teeth, so much as to a
lack of normal symmetry in the size or shape of the maxillary bones
upon which so large an area of the face is dependent for its contour.
These conditions may have arisen from the direct inheritance of a
parental deformity, or from the inharmonious union of unaltered types,
as the teeth of one parent and the jaws of another. It is equally true
that the union of harmonious types often results in symmetrical condi-
tions which neither parent possesses.
Among local causes, or those which operate after birth in the j^ro-
duction of facial imperfections, may be mentioned habits, impaired
dentition, delayed and injudicious extraction of the deciduous teeth or
first permanent molars, and mal-occlusion.
The influence of the teeth during the time of their eruption (produ-
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