Throughout this exercise when I was using the grab tool I wished it would not grab onto a specific verticie but rather just push the edge of the mesh out of the way of the cursor — that way I could just “draw” the path that I wanted and the mesh would displace accordingly.

For example, If I’m shaping the outline of a tooth, I could start drawing in empty space, move my pen into the mesh a little, and then draw the curved path I want downward and the rest of the mesh would displace away from the cursor accordingly. Basically, you could make one stroke vs multiple grab adjustments when shaping the outline/silhouette of a mesh.