Smile Design

Smile Design

A smile is a person’s ability to express a range of emotions with the structure and movement of the teeth and the lips. 

The importance of a beautiful smile is not new and can have a very positive effect on a person.

Achieving a successful, healthy and functional result requires an understanding of the interrelationship among all the supporting structures, including the muscles, bones and joints, gingival tissues and occlusion (the way our teeth come together).

We are able to perform full smile makeovers using a wide range of techniques, and often utilising the varied skills of more than one member of our dental team.

As you can appreciate there are multiple ways a smile can be restored.  It is very important that your requirements are clearly understood before we carry out any treatment.

An initial smile design consultation is booked where we will discuss your requirements and take pictures of your smile.  An intra-oral camera is sometimes used if the posterior teeth are being considered.  This can help with the planning stage so patients can visualize any discoloured or broken fillings, dental disease that needs to be addressed.

A good idea is to look online at smiles and try to pick out a handful that appeals to you.  That will give us a good idea of the type of smile you like/want.

After studying your pictures we will have a follow up appointment where we can look at your desired changes and discuss which solutions may be possible.

Before

Smile Design case

Patient was not happy with the aesthetics of the front teeth. Patients concerns: The gingival margins aren't level, the teeth aren't straight and the smile wants to be whiter. There is has a mixture of crowns, post-crowns, veneers and natural teeth to be considered.

Before

Smile Design case

After careful planning using facebows and other measuring devices; a trial smile is mocked up and tried into place. A soft tissue LASER was used to modify the gingiva (more information can be found in the Oral Surgery or Miscellaneous section). Function and aesthetics can then be trialled out by the patient and any changes can be made before the final restorations are made.

After

Smile Design case

Final fitting with a mixture of IPS e-max veneers, Zirconium veneers and IPS e-max crowns. A beautiful smile is restored and the patient is happy.

After

Smile Design case

Review one month later to assess gingival health, teeth function and of course aesthetics. Case by S. Hopkins