That Hollywood smile—few have it, but everyone wants it. Luckily, the procedures for improving the smile have evolved; interestingly, we now have customized smile designs.
Also known as digital smile design (or DSD, for short), customized smile design is a breakthrough in the orthodontic industry. It carries benefits like excellent predictability, shorter operation times, and better surgical outcomes. As an added benefit, this solution gives your patient maximum control, allowing them to design their perfect smile.
However, if you haven't implemented DSD in your practice, you may want to know where to start. Do you need to invest in digital X-ray machines? Or do you add a snap-lock expander to your list of orthodontic gear?
Well, by the time you reach the end of this detailed guide, these—and other questions you may have about customized smile design—will be answered. Are you ready to go beyond midline correction and add DSD to your catalog of services? Read on!
What's Customized Smile Design?
Digital smile design combines practices that integrate digital workflows into orthodontics. You map your patient's dentition in a virtual space using cameras, intraoral scanners, and 3D rendering software.
The scanned 3D model of your patient's teeth, soft tissue, and gums are straightforward to view and manipulate. It serves as a clear visual blueprint for creating the ideal smile.
After observing the 3D model, you and your patient can work side by side to identify the areas damaging their smile and create mitigation ways. For example, if the patient has a constricted upper jaw, you may use an MSE refill kit to facilitate maxillary skeletal expansion.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Customized Smile Design
Contrary to what you may think, digital smile design is not too complicated—it takes just three steps to complete:
Step #1: Get Your Patient's 3-D Digital Dental Scan
For this step, you will need a digital x-ray machine—specifically, the dental cone beam computer tomography (CBCT). The CBCT should create a clear three-dimension image of your patient's bone and dental structure in addition to the soft tissues surrounding the teeth.
Next, you can use the CEREC Omnicram intraoral scanner to create a more photorealistic model of your patient's mouth. Once you have the two views of your dentition, you are ready to move to step 2.
Step #2: Digital Smile Design & Planning
First, compile and merge the photorealistic model and the digital X-ray scan of your patient's oral structure to create one visual model. Next, invite your patient to sit down with you to discuss their goals and the treatment options to help achieve them.
Finally, after the discussion, it should be easy for the patient to choose the parts of their smile they would like to fix and how they would like to proceed.
Step #3: Computer-Guided Procedure
After the planning and pre-work, it's to deliver the smile your client wishes. You will need an array of computer visualization gear to guide your smile-improving procedure and enhance your precision. The computer-aided approach should reduce the treatment time and help you deliver the best results for your client.
What Are the Benefits of Customized Smile Design?
Digital smile design provides a smarter, safer, and more effective way for your patients to get that smile they have always wanted. Some of the benefits your patients enjoy include:
Saves Time
Customized smile design is less complicated than other procedures often used to improve a smile. All it needs is a couple of scans—you won't need to do mold casting. It eliminates time wastage and also ensures your patient is comfortable.
Superior Results
As an orthodontist, you always want to deliver the best results for your patients, whether for open-bite treatment or improving spacing between teeth with a NiTi closed coil spring.
Digital smile design allows your client to design their ideal smile—using their design and modern computer visualization gear; you can then transfer the smile into their mouth. With customized smile designs, customers consistently report high satisfaction levels.
Effectiveness of Digital Smile Design: What Does the Research Say?
2019 Research Study
A research study conducted in 2019 analyzed the benefits of customized smile design in creating a complicated orthodontic treatment plan.
In this research study, a teenage patient wearing self-ligating braces was the study subject. The researchers realized that according to the patient's history and oral situation, the teenager needed an accurate plan for orthodontic teeth movement that allowed maximum smile rehabilitation. The researchers, therefore, decided to use a digital smile design to complete the patient's orthodontic examination.
The study indicated that using a digital smile design in the proof of concept helped create an effective treatment plan for the teenage patient.
2010 Case Study
In 2010, a patient presented to the orthodontist's office looking for help with his front teeth, which had suffered a hockey accident three years prior. After analyzing the situation, the orthodontist determined that the most effective treatment plan would involve a customized smile design.
The orthodontists created a 3D model of the patient's dentition and rendered it on their software, allowing them to address the right areas to fix the client's smile.
After implementing the design created on the computer, the orthodontist reportedly allowed the patient to go away. When the patient returned three months later, the orthodontist checked the results.
The results showed that improvement had stuck, and the tissue healing had not experienced any hindrance. From the case study, we can tell that digital smile design effectively improved the patient's smile.
Overview
Patients have long wanted to have control over how their smile looks. You can grant their wish through digital smile design.
Customized smile design allows orthodontists to consider and implement the patient's inputs on how their smile should look. With a 3D model of the patient's dentition, digital smile design eliminates unpredictability in the outcomes.
This detailed guide shows you how to implement customized smile design in your practice. If there is a question we did not answer to your satisfaction, let us know in the comments.
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