GOLDEN PROPORTION IN PROSTHODONTICS PART-1.

There is substantial evidence that even in Pre-Civilization era; human beings were conscious and strongly aware of beauty. Crude cave paintings point out this fact and so does old civilizations across the globe eg. Mayan, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Greek, Indian, and Chinese. Esthetics, proportion, form and function go hand-in-hand. This was realized by humans very early, since, the inception of civilization, and the very fact was appreciated by great artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. This mystical (1:1.618) proportion was, for long, termed as Magical/Divine Proportion and later on Golden Proportion, which was appreciated in nature, both in plants and animals. It was also used in architecture. Attention to existence of Golden Proportion in dental arches was drawn by Lombardi1 and Levin2 (1978). Marquardt discovered the Golden Rectangle i.e., height of central incisor is in Golden Proportion to the width of the two central incisors. This Golden Proportion is also used in reconstruction of maxillofacial defects eg., eye, ear, nose, and fingers. The Golden Proportion principle is also used to design implant supported prostheses. Ward3 demonstrated the Recurring Esthetic Dental Proportion (RED) claiming it to be more consistent and practical to use in prosthodontic rehabilitation. This paper traces the origin of the Divine Proportion and gives an overview of the adaptation of the Golden Proportion in art and architecture in the middle ages. The paper also gives us an insight of how the Golden Proportion has been used in dentistry, particularly Prosthodontics, in the fabrication of Removable, Fixed, Maxillofacial, and Implant supported prostheses; and also been adapted in newly developed electronic techniques like 3-D imaging and interactive software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]