Digital smile design

When planning dental treatment involving restorative procedures (fillings, prosthetics), patients have a hard time imagining how they would look after the treatment, as changes involve the whole face, not only the smile. It is great that today dentistry can use digital technology and visualization to provide an approximate image of the planned result. 

The smile and the face are more than visible aesthetics; they are corrected having the smallest details in mind. In this aspect, just like in design and architecture, before proceeding with the project a 3D visualization is prepared to assess the predicted result before any actual procedures. 

In dentistry, this concept is called digital smile design. How is it done? Everything begins with standard photos of the patient’s smile and face performed according to strict requirements. Afterwards the patient’s tooth shade and shape selection is performed to predict the tooth appearance after restorative procedures. 

Digital smile design and implementation can be performed in several stages: 

2D smile design

      

3D smile design 

Mock-up restorations 

   

Provisional restorations 

Definitive restorations