- Do you regard your smile as a source of shame?
- Do the smiles that you see on celebrities make you envious?
- Are you finding that you are becoming shy or even reclusive because of your smile?
A good dentist will not only evaluate your own personal feelings towards your smile but also take an objective look at your teeth and gums. They’ll not only be looking for the obvious such as old fillings that are visible and clearly in need of renewal ( a gray Mercury filling certainly will ruin the appearance of your smile, even if the remainder of your teeth are pearlescent white). But also more particular aesthetic principles such as dental-facial aesthetics and the ratio of revealed gums to teeth are just some of the oral aesthetics that are taken into consideration.
As a point of departure for most smile evaluation and design work is the initial record taking and cast work that will allow the dentist to plan the eventual dento-facial treatment that will give the patient a more attractive smile.
When a full set of records is present the dentist is able to make conclusions on what work is necessary. While it is romantically true that a good smile should be without definition, in the realm of aesthetic oral well being everything from lip protrusion to the amount of teeth shown in normal conversation (conversational teeth show), can affect the brilliance of your smile. Finally when an end state is agreed upon by the patient and dentist, influenced not only by monetary concerns, but also by the aesthetically desired end state, the time in which the patient wishes the work to be done and an overriding concern for continued oral health, can work begin.
If the initial plan is simple the work might be quite superficial such as cracked filling replacement all the way up the scale to many experts such as orthodontic and periodontists becoming involved.