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During the last decade, the term ‘smile design’ has gradually become commonly used in the ever more popular esthetic dentistry.
But what does smile design actually mean?
In the everyday language, the term ‘smile design’ is often used as the synonym of a dental treatment with esthetic purposes.
However, smile design is actually a process before the treatment starts:
Smile design is the planning and pre-visualization of the desired end result of an esthetic dental treatment targeting a more harmonious state instead of the current disharmony, according the rules of facial, smile, tooth and gingival harmony and the individual needs of the patient, paying particular attention to the functional aspects and the feasibility.
Rules of harmony:
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A smile design is not simply based on the esthetic sense of the dentist or the dental technician. Nowadays, the design procedure is a complex task, guided by closely interrelated facial, smile, tooth and gingival harmony aspects and rules, taking into consideration the properties specific to the patient's age group.
Functional aspects:
Functionality should never be overridden by esthetics. Besides esthetic aspects, the functional requirements (i.e., the operating requirements of the teeth and the mandibular joint) should also be considered by the dentist to a maximal degree.
Feasibility:
Besides the principles of harmony and the ideas of the patient, the appropriate smile should be chosen with feasibility considerations taken fully into account.
There are several means of pre-demonstrating the different possibilities and the designed smile to the patient, but computer-assisted smile design is, without doubt, the most effective one.
Computer-assisted smile design can be performed by the dentist using a custom graphic design program or a special smile design software.
Modern dentist offices can provide the patients with the opportunity to view thousands of possible dentures quite realistically represented in their own facial photos, and thus, to choose—staying within the limits of feasibility—a smile type, together with the dentist, that suits the principles of harmony and the individual preferences. The printed or saved smile design images can be given to the patients to help his/her decision.
Individual needs of the patient:
The dentist should not ignore the opinion of the patient. In most cases, the instructions, taste and style of the patient all contribute to the creation of a truly harmonious smile.
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