Curve of Spee

According to another definition the curve of Spee is an anatomic curvature of the occlusal alignment of the teeth, beginning at the tip of the lower incisor, following the buccal cusps of the natural premolars, and molars and continuing to the anterior border of the ramus.

It is named for the German embryologist Ferdinand Graf von Spee (1855–1937), who was first to describe the anatomic relations of human teeth in the sagittal plane.

The pull of the main muscle of mastication, the masseter, is at a perpendicular angle with the curve of Spee to adapt for favorable loading of force on the teeth.

The long axis of each lower tooth is aligned nearly parallel to their individual arch of closure.

The Curve of Spee is basically a part of a circle (8-inch diameter) which has its circumference as the anterior ramus of mandible.