- DIGITAL SMILE DESIGN – DSD-
Topic explanation:
Creating smiles through digital technology.
Embracing technology that we currently have at our fingertips allows us to create smiles to show our patients with minimal invasion. It is as simple as taking 5 photos and an alginate impression. This will allow us to create a smile to show the patient in your surgery on a monitor or ipad, what their final appearance can look like even before the dentist cuts away any tooth structure at all.
This exciting area of dental technology has allowed us at Jade dental to gather vital information about the patient and control the outcome before we begin. We find that utilizing this technology is not only exciting but leads a predictability in technique and final tooth position guided by the following advantages.
- Patient involvement in planning and design
- Ability to make adjustments in the design process rather than the final restorations, saving time and further consultations.
- Larger case acceptance. For those patients who are unsure of treatment . Will we prep 4 or 6 teeth . Well lets see what it looks like.
- Correcting tooth planes and dimensions as we now can see the overall picture
- Gives the dentist guidance for tooth preparation (where to cut and why)
Lets take back the control, instead of simply sending case to the laboratory and hoping for a great job to come back, lets do the planning and get it right the first time.
A confident patient who has become a part of the decision making process and who can see themselves with a new smile is a patient who will more likely accept treatment. DSD is a visual tool without the use of a costly diagnostic wax up.
- THE PROCESS -
Patient presents with missing laterals and would like a fresh smile. She knows she needs something done but to what extent? In collaboration with the patient and dentist it is decided to do a Digital Smile Design.
Either Jade dental or the Dentist can take the 5 specific photos in a predetermined position and take an alginate impression. A measurement is taken from distal of the centrals in millimetres.
From this photo we determine the midline , lower lip curvature and incisal edge from eyes etc
The ideal tooth width is determined and a proposed tooth position is overlayed from the measurements provided. Implants are proposed as a treatment option
A before and after image (below) is shown to the patient at the surgery with the proposal of 2 implants, 3 veneers and bleaching.
The patient feels very confident and comfortable with the plan as well as being highly involved with the entire process. Treatment is accepted and we then move forward to complete proposed restoration. The photo below shows the final result.