Cosmetic Dentistry
- Computer Imaging
by Dr. Michael C. Goldman
What is it? Computer imgaging is the alteration of a digital photograph of you in the computer to see what changes to your smile might look better !
Why would you want it? It's very scary to have your appearance changed .... and even more so if you really don't know what the changes are going look like !......."Imaging"... allows you and the dentist to get on the same page about what you both agree looks the best for you. Your dentistry then can be guided by that image so the end result is NOT A BIG SURPRISE !!! Done properly, it takes the emotional risk out of cosmetic dentistry for you, the patient.
Can I see an example ? Yes !
In the top photo you can see the "Before" image of both
people as they are before anything has been done. Normally, of course, it would
only be an image of one person.
In the bottom image you can see how the appearance of their smiles has been "computer enhanced". It's not "real", just an example of a suggestion of what might look better.
If it were an image of you, you might love it...or you might think... "it's pretty good, ...but ... I think the teeth look too white, or not white enough, or too big, too small, etc..."
Most of those properties (whiteness, size, shape, etc.) can be easily changed in the computer to get an image more to your liking. The dentist then needs to check out your smile in detail to make sure what you want is, in fact, possible to do. Luckily, most often, it is possible.
With today's cosmetic dentistry techniques most people can get the great smile they always wanted, but thought they could never have.
A great smile can change your life ! The sense of confidence and self-esteem that come from an attractive smile can turn your life around, or just make an already great life more pleasurable!
So How Does it Work? In my office, I would start by asking you "What can I do for you?" That simple question puts YOU in charge ! You tell me what you have been thinking about .... wanting.... regarding making your smile more handsome, or prettier, or stronger looking. It's like, if you could wave a magic wand and have your smile look different, how would you want it to look?
You would try to describe your "perfect smile", and I would listen and probably take some notes. By asking specific questions I could get a pretty good idea of what you want, but not exactly. For example, you might say I want white teeth. Well, how white?
That's where it gets tricky...and scary ! Say you wanted "whiter teeth". A month later the dentist puts in your new caps or veneers and you look in the mirror.
"Yikes!!!!.... I didn't want to look like that guy on TV .... You look at him and all you see is TEETH !" .....or... "Doc, I wanted WHITE teeth! These are not much whiter than what I started with !" ... Well..., you and Doc are not having a good day at the ol' dental office today, are you ? And all that money!!!!!!!$$$$$$
So THAT'S what I want to avoid as much as humanly possible by doing the imaging as a start.
In this case my patient wanted very white teeth - and what I like to think of as a "power smile". He does a lot of public speaking and wants to feel in command of his audience. He's the up and coming CEO type and his new appearance helps to give him the self image he wants. You might want a slightly different "look" and that's fine... and imaging helps to determine what you like. Meanwhile, doesn't his smile look so much better?
As a Start??...
There's MORE ???
Yes, but it's a good start and a lot has been determined already at this point in time. By this time we both have a pretty good idea of what you WANT. Now it's my job to determine if what you want is a realistic expectation! The computer imaging is very helpful, but you have to remember it's only a 2-dimensional image. And besides, you can do ANYTHING on the computer. I could put your upper teeth on the bottom and the bottoms on top! Not that I would want to, but you get the point... it's just a picture. In the example at the top of this page you saw these "before" and "enhanced" photos.
So the next step is to check it out in 3-dimensions. I would make a model of your teeth and working with my dental lab technician I would have the model altered to match the imaging we both liked best. Sometimes it just can't be done... or not without getting more involved and complicated than you want to deal with. Most of the time it is possible.... and what's even better, possible "tricky" problem areas are usually discovered in the process of trying to alter the model that better prepare me and the lab technician for making the corresponding alterations to your teeth that might have been missed without this degree of preparation ahead of time ! And there's more... the "temporaries". In the case, again, of the patient at the top of the page, here's how we went from a 2-dimensional computer image to a 3-dimensional model:
Another case Before and After Porcelain Veneers
The TEMPORARIES ? Yes, once the model is altered and we agree on your new smile design, a mold or form is made of it that will be used to make temporary caps or veneers for your teeth that pretty much exactly duplicate the altered model. Can you see why that is important?
It's important because when your teeth are altered, you will most often need some sort of temporary caps or veneers to wear during the couple of weeks the lab is making your "real" caps or veneers. Well, firstly, this gives you really great looking temporaries so you look better right away!
Secondly, it is a real life PREVIEW of what the real caps or veneers are going to look like, based on the imaging and the altered model work we did. It gives you a chance to see if the color and shape and size, etc. look right to you. The temporaries, while not EXACTLY like the real ones to come, are actually pretty close in shape, size and color. Again , for my patient at the top of this page the results show the benefit of all the preparation work done in planning for the specific esthetic desires of my patient. The end result was NO SURPRISE to me or to my patient!
When you see how you look with the temporaries, you might tell me you want the front teeth longer or shorter, or more square, or more round, whatever.... I can alter the temporaries to check it out and then I communicate this to my lab technician and those changes can usually be incorporated into the final design. So when you get the final restorations, there should be no BIG SURPRISES ! You have already checked it out in several ways and the only real change should be that the real ones look even better than the temporaries !The result for my patient at the top of this page: Notice the natural appearance of the veneers.
View of patient's new smile.
The next phot is probably a bit too "clinical" but I want you to see a real close "Close-up" of the veneers...
to see just how real and natural they look !!!
By comparison most caps look opaque and have dark lines or shadows around the gumlines.
So that's pretty much "it"... a lot of work to:
-Find out what you would like, and
-What can realistically be done
-Create good looking temporaries right away, that will
-Give you a real-life preview or rehearsal so we can
-Make final "fine-tuning" adjustments to the real restorations as they are being made... all to closely control the process from beginning to end so you
-Get what you want without waiting to the end and wondering "what will I look like....?"
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I sincerely hope this article has been helpful in explaining both what Cosmetic Computer Imaging is and why it might be very important and valuable to you or a loved one thinking about Cosmetic Dentistry.
Please visit other articles on my website dealing with many issues related to Cosmetic Dentistry and Holistic Dentistry.
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