Smile Design is a set of aesthetic dentistry procedures that create the look of smile the patient wants. Work is done on the teeth – with bonding, veneers or all-ceramic crowns – and on the contour of the gums, with microsurgical or laser contouring.
What is Smile Design and what does a smile depend on?
Everyone’s smile is individual and gives them a special charm. For a perfect smile, the main role is played by the teeth, with their shape, size, colour, texture and position. Second, but not least in importance, is the contour of the gums (the arch-shaped line of the gum around the neck of each tooth). It gives a harmonious look to the border between white (teeth) and pink (gum), which is essential for the aesthetic appearance of the smile.
Which teeth determine the look of the smile?
There are 32 teeth in the human mouth, and when smiling roughly 10 front teeth in each of the upper and lower jaws are visible. These are the incisors, canines and premolars, and they form the so-called smile window. The type of smile is determined by their shape, size, colour and position.
These teeth need to have matching visual characteristics, which correspond to the size and shape of the face, the colour of the skin and the lines of the smile. Teeth of the same size, colour and shape may create a perfect smile for one person, but be unsuitable and unaesthetic for another.
In aesthetic dentistry there are two catalogues of smiles – Lorenz’s and the LVI one. They show the main types of smile, and no attention is paid in them to the colour of the gums and teeth, or to the length of the teeth. They emphasise only the shape of the teeth and their cutting edges, so as to show the rich variety of smiles and the different impression that each combination gives.
If combinations of different colours, tooth sizes (widths and heights), gum contour shapes and faces are added to this, the combinations number in the thousands. This makes everyone’s smile unique and one of a kind.
How is the appearance of the teeth corrected?
The appearance of the teeth can be corrected in several ways:
- Bonding – directly applying composite of the required colour and giving the tooth a certain shape and size. A procedure for restoring small defects of the teeth.
- Ceramic or composite veneers – they can change the colour, the shape, the size and even, within small limits, the position of the tooth. Making veneers is a strictly cosmetic procedure.
- All-ceramic crowns – in patients with severely destroyed teeth or an incorrect bite, veneers may not be a sufficiently strong restoration, and in these cases all-ceramic crowns are used. They and bridges are the most aesthetic restorations.
What is red aesthetics?
Once the desired appearance of the teeth has been achieved, attention is also paid to so-called red aesthetics – the shape of the gingival contour. Even with perfect teeth, a smile can be unaesthetic if the white – pink border (tooth–gum) is not correct and symmetrical.
This is achieved through microsurgical or laser contouring of the gingival embrasures. Red aesthetics is a key stage in achieving a beautiful smile.
How does Smile Design work?
Before starting the procedure, it is essential to make wax-up models. Impressions of the patient are taken and sent to the dental laboratory, where the dental technician makes a wax prototype of the smile. This takes about a week.
When the models are ready, the patient sees what their future smile will look like. This is the moment when they must assess it and, if necessary, ask for corrections. Once the look of the smile has been approved, work on creating it begins, through combinations of bonding, veneers, all-ceramic crowns and red aesthetics.
How much does it cost?
A porcelain veneer costs 400 – 520 €, and a composite one 100 – 240 €. All prices are in the Price list.
Frequently asked questions
What is Smile Design?
A set of aesthetic dentistry procedures that create the look of smile the patient wants by correcting the teeth and the contour of the gums.
How can the appearance of the teeth be corrected?
With bonding (directly applying composite), with ceramic or composite veneers, and, for severely destroyed teeth or an incorrect bite, with all-ceramic crowns.
What is red aesthetics?
The shape of the gingival contour. It is achieved through microsurgical or laser contouring of the gingival embrasures, so that the tooth–gum border is correct and symmetrical.
Can I see my smile in advance?
Yes. Before starting, wax-up models are made – a wax prototype of the smile produced in the dental laboratory in about a week. The patient assesses it and may ask for corrections.