The “Lips at Rest” or “Emma” photograph is a foundational image in dental treatment planning. This image along with the patient’s age and gender is used to determine the proposed position of the incisal edges of the maxillary centrals. Once the centrals have been positioned in the face the rest of the maxillary teeth are set to create a level occlusal plane. The middle of the camera lens needs to be level with the maxillary incisal edges, and the front of the lens needs to be parallel to the labial surface of the centrals. Positioning the patient and camera, is critical, as the camera perspective can distort the information and skew your treatment planning. Shooting from above the patient makes it appear they have less display, shooting from below appears as if they have more. The amount of display is a bell curve, we treatment plan to the center of the bell and based on studies of what is assessed as most esthetic.
- Women of age 20:3-4mm of display
- Women of age 60: 1-2mm of display
- Men: .5mm less display at any age.
In this video on https://restorativenation.com I demonstrate patient positioning and instructions for capturing a lips at rest photo.
Dr. Brady,
This is a wonderful little video! You are such an educator. I don’t even need to learn how to take an Emma photo, yet I am compelled to learn any way!