At ADC our goal is more than beautiful teeth, it is creating a perfect marriage between your face, skin complexion, lips and gingival or gum tissue. If all these factors are not addressed, then creating an invisible restoration means nothing!
Whether we agree or disagree we are many times judged by our appearance and a pleasing face and smile are many times the first things noticed and can leave a lasting impression. So, let’s get started and first determine your patients’ goals and objectives and this can only be accomplished through a comprehensive consultation and appropriate aesthetic records.
First the consultation should be focused on your patient’s chief complaint and most cases the patient is just unhappy with the appearance of his or her own teeth. This broad generalized complaint has been a consistent chief compliant that I hear over and over the last several decades of providing aesthetic dentistry. It is are job to bring clarity and objective finding to our patients in order to create a long lasting and satisfying outcome that both the patient and clinician can be proud of. This should start by removing all forms of disease and by this I am referring to occlusal issues or how the TMJ is working and functioning and by this, I mean a patient should be able to open and close their mouth vertically at least 40-60mm or the breath of your three fingers. They should be able to move their lower jaw laterally and protrusive 4-8mm. These movements should be free of any popping or clicking noises, free of pain and have no deviations or deflections upon opening or closing. The next issue is establishing healthy soft tissue and bone that support your teeth. You should never consider building a beautiful home on a poor foundation and you should not attempt restoring your teeth without healthy hard and soft tissue that support your teeth. Failure to address these issues in the beginning will guarantee poor results and longer-term failure.
The next issue is to remove all disease from the existing teeth such as defective restorations or fillings, broken or cracked teeth, along with the removal of all nonfunctioning problematic teeth.
We then must address color shape size and position of the teeth and how they are related to your patient smile line…Does your patient have a gummy smile, thin lips, full lips, a wide smile or narrow smile? How many teeth show when your patient smiles or speaks?
The adage form follows function could also be expanded to mean when your patient has a beautiful smile the form and function are in harmony and everything is in balance.
We are consistently bombarded with illusions or fake appearances, I strongly suggest a serious conversation with your patient about the outcome, are they looking for an unreal artificial appearance or natural appearance. If I have heard once I have heard a thousand times Dr. Coughlin if I am going to spend this much time and money, I want the whitest teeth I can get!
Next, we must collect accurate and essential records that will include a complete intra and extra oral photos that are consistent and accurate and I suggest you consider Rx Photo, a complete and comprehensive medical and dental history, upper and lower mounted study models and bite, along with complete dental radiographs.
The next consideration is financial, not everyone can afford a five-bedroom home on the ocean, but everyone should understand what it takes to achieve it. Rich poor or in-between you as a patient deserve to understand all the options and are goal is to help you achieve it without compromising your care.
Today we hear so much about the cost of health care I suggest you consider the quality of healthcare and ask yourself out of all the things we spend money on how many of those things last a life time and the short answer is your teeth are the last things to go and with correct treatment and MAINTENANCE this could be one of the best investment you can make for yourself. The cost of doing something correct verses that of doing something incorrect will always be the most cost-effective approach in anything we do. Let the team at ADC find a way for you to get the results you want and deserve.
Some Quick Fun Facts
Did you know the shape of your two front teeth are the shape of your face turned upside down?
A horizontal line drawn through your pupils and a horizontal line drawn through the incisal edges of your upper front teeth should be parallel.
Take a piece of dental floss and stretch it from the tip of the nose to your chin. In a well-balanced face, your lower lip should be 2-4mm behind this line.
The curve of the edges of your upper teeth should match the curve of your lower lip.
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