Smile Studio

Facial and smile esthetics is a major reason for many patients to seek orthodontic and dental treatment. Smile esthetics is affected by several factors (such as the occlusion, gingival display, lip position, dentolabial harmony, or dental anomalies like congenitally missing teeth) and is critical for enhancing one’s psychological well-being and self-perceived psychological impact. A photograph of low quality might reduce the patient’s satisfaction by affecting their esthetic judgment. Therefore, it would be more desirable to use equipments that can better reflect the reality. Smile photography is a case of close-up imaging. Photos can educate patients and improve case acceptance, communicate shade to the dental lab, and improve patients’ confidence following treatment.

What speaks volumes to patients is how they see themselves after treatment. Did you make a difference in their smiles? How can you tell without photographs of what they looked like before you started? You (and your patients) simply can’t. When fabricating aesthetic anterior restorations, the appearance of which can be highly subjective, it is important to ascertain as much information as possible about patient’s wishes, desires and their perception of themselves. A dental office with studio set-up helps in attaining these details. At the end of treatment, we take a couple of these photos again and make a side-by-side comparison using a PowerPoint or Keynote slideshow to show the patient the improvements we have made together, making the patient as much of a part of the process as possible. It has a tremendous impact for treatments that take months to accomplish and reminds the patient (and the dental team) that what was done was worth the wait!