In this paper local tooth contact analysis and standard calculation are used to determine the load capacity for the failure modes pitting, tooth root breakage, micropitting, and tooth flank fracture; analogies and differences between both approaches are shown. An example gearset is introduced to show the optimization potential that arises from using a combination of both methods. Difficulties in combining local approaches with standard methods are indicated. The example calculation demonstrates a valid possibility to optimize the gear design by using local tooth contact analysis while satisfying the requirement of documenting the load carrying capacity by standard calculations.