How Many Teeth Should You Draw

Teeth are one of those areas of the face that can easily go wrong. Draw too many and the character looks like they have food stuck everywhere. Draw too few and the expression falls flat. The real challenge is understanding the basic anatomy well enough to know what to suggest and what to leave out, and that changes depending on style.

This video breaks down the fundamental tooth anatomy through active drawing, starting with the horseshoe shape of the jaw and building up to full character demonstrations. By examining how artists like Miyazaki, Eiichiro Oda, and Ralph Mayer handle teeth in wildly different styles, the underlying structural patterns become clear enough to apply to any approach.

The center line is everything. On either side of it sits a symmetrical arrangement: two incisors at the front for chomping, one canine tooth for gripping and tearing, two premolars that are thicker and slightly sharp, and two molars at the back shaped more like pegs. Memorizing this pattern from the center line outward means the same logic mirrors to both sides and applies to both top and bottom rows.

Understanding the functional differences between tooth types gives each one a distinct primary form. Incisors are flat planes, canines are pointed and animalistic, premolars have more depth, and molars are blunt. These shapes matter when deciding which teeth to actually draw and which to suggest. The top teeth tend to be larger and overhang the bottom row, with the four bottom incisors compressing to fit beneath the two front teeth above. The bottom canine tucks in front of the top canine, creating a specific overlapping pattern that reads as believable when drawn correctly.

Two approaches work for placing teeth in a face, and both start from the center line. Drawing the teeth first and wrapping the mouth around them works well for exaggerated characters, zombies, or creatures where the teeth are a defining feature. Sketching in all the teeth on the skull structure and then adding lips over the top gives maximum control over where everything sits before deciding what actually shows.

Drawing the mouth shape first and placing teeth within it is more common in everyday character work. The mouth defines the expression, and then only the visible teeth need placement. Either way, the center line does the heavy lifting. Finding where the center falls and using it to divide the teeth symmetrically, the same fundamental drawing trick used for hands and fingers, prevents the common problem of teeth that trail off awkwardly to one side.

The real lesson with teeth is knowing when to stop drawing them. Looking at Miyazaki's sketches, most mouths are just a white void defined by the mouth shape. Ralph Mayer's more realistic comic work still relies on suggestion for the majority of shots, only drawing individual teeth when the panel demands it. Even One Piece, with its famously exaggerated grins, uses a mix of fully rendered teeth and iconic shorthand.

The more teeth that get drawn in detail, the worse things tend to look unless the style specifically calls for it. The sketch-then-refine approach applies directly here: block in all the teeth for structural understanding, then pull back with a kneaded eraser and only commit to the lines that actually tell the story. Which teeth are visible determines whether a character reads as smiling, grimacing, or angry. Top teeth visible means a smile. Bottom teeth or all teeth showing signals aggression or fear. That simple iconographic signal matters more than anatomical accuracy.