Planning For Cosmetic Dental Treatment

When it comes to cosmetic dental treatments, it may seem simple in theory: we all want straighter, whiter smiles. But in reality, it takes a lot of planning on the part of your dentist to try and give you the smile you want.

Dental Planning

Cosmetic dental work involves more than just placing a veneer over a tooth, or throwing on whitening gel and letting it sit. Your Vancouver dentist needs to consult with you about your goals and assess your current smile. Then they need to work with the tools they have to try to accomplish your goals. 

The dentists at Family Dental Care Kitsilano - Dr. Harry Sangha Dentistry understand that your smile is a reflection of who you are, and how you communicate. So we know that there are a number of factors that need to be considered when embarking on this journey toward a straighter, brighter smile.

How Do Patients Expectations Factor In?

The most important things that our dentists consider before any treatment are the patient's goals and expectations. We try to understand our patient's primary complaints and concerns so that we can direct our treatment plan toward a final outcome that our patients will appreciate.

After a thorough assessment, your dentist will highlight treatment options and expected outcomes with you in order for you to make an informed decision about treatment. This allows you to give input and ask any questions that you may have.

With the help of dental technology such as the iTero scanner, our Vancouver dentists can create digital renditions of our patient's smiles and even show them how their treatment will progress. This allows our patients to feel more confident in their treatment plans.

What are the factors dentists consider?

There are a number of things that your dentist will need to consider when mapping out your treatment plan and visualizing the end result. Some of these factors include:

Facial Aesthetics - The overall assessment of the smile must begin from a visual standpoint. Facial features and proportions are key factors in how your smile is going to look. Your dentist will look for asymmetries in the facial features. Notable concerns with symmetry can be an indication of skeletal or growth and development issues that may or may not have an impact on the patient's smiles. 

Tooth Position - Current tooth position is an incredibly important aspect that needs to be assessed. Without proper evaluation, this can lead to the dentist attempting to obtain ideal results unsuccessfully when the tooth or root is improperly angled or is in the wrong position.

Upper Lip Length, Lip Position, Mobility, and Symmetry - Your lips play an important role when it comes to the look of your smile because they create the boundary for your smile. Overall lip mobility is simply the movement of the lips at rest to the farthest position that occurs when the patient smiles spontaneously and is directly related to the upper lip length. The overall symmetry of the patient’s lip mobility must be assessed since there is a significant portion of the patient population that has asymmetry of movement of upper and lower lips. This can lead to more teeth and/ or gum displayed on one side versus the other, creating disharmony in the overall smile of the patient.

Incisal Edge Position - The incisal (front teeth) edge position must also be evaluated in relation to the surrounding tissues as well. Generally, your front teeth should be parallel to your pupils.

Midline - The position of the teeth, and the dental midline in regard to the facial midline has to be assessed during the smile evaluation. It is important to evaluate the relationship of the dental midline to the facial midline in addition to the overall angle of the midline. If there are slight differences in the midline angle, it can be quite noticeable to many people.

Tooth Proportions - Overall tooth proportions are another key and critically important assessment that must be made by your dentist during the initial examination. 

Microesthetics - Your dentist needs to assess and discuss the final color or shade you desire. Ideally, they will select a shade that is naturally pleasing but aesthetically enhancing. The dentist should also communicate to the lab technician about desired facial surface texture, overall incisal translucency, additional tooth characteristics including incisal effects, embrasures, tooth shape, and variations in value and hue.

If you would like to learn more about the process involved in cosmetic dental procedures, contact our Vancouver dentists today.