The transforming power of a smile is undeniable. When it comes to improving the smile, the best results are attuned to your teeth, your expectations, and your face. Creating harmony and aesthetic balance in a patient’s smile is all about individualization and customization.
For Los Altos, CA cosmetic dentist Joseph Field, DDS, that means allowing the patient to be the basis for design. “Most cosmetic dentists have their style and their way of doing things and that’s what they do,” Dr. Field says. “The way we do things, each smile is really customized to the individual.”
This starts with photos and scans of a patient’s teeth, mouth, and face.
“When we go through the planning process of what I call my smile architectural design, we take a lot of photographs, and digitally scan patients faces,” Dr. Field explains. “And we design things based on their mouth, their lips, their face.”
The cases below demonstrate the profound impact this customized approach can have on patients.
Mom of Three Gets a New Smile
For years, this mom of three was unhappy with her small, narrow smile. “She felt she had baby teeth,” Dr. Field explains. “She’s a mom of three that loves to smile, but always feels hesitant because her teeth were so small.”
Conducting the initial sessions virtually, Dr. Field was able to determine a route forward without gum contouring. One in-person appointment later, she was fitted with temporary prepless veneers to try out. Prepless veneers are thin, porcelain shells that bond directly over top of existing teeth, rather than grinding down the teeth to make room for traditional veneers. The final version can last up to twenty years, but Dr. Field always begins with a temporary set.
“Temporary veneers are an important part of the process,” Dr. Field explains. “I like to give my patients a chance to test drive their new smile, make sure everything’s the way we want it to be and to make any potential changes.”
The final product is a broader smile that fits harmoniously with the rest of her face.
Baby Boomer Reset
As this patient’s teeth were beginning to deteriorate, what initially started as a visit for a single implant bloomed into the opportunity for a new, radiant smile.
“We started talking about what needs to be done and that her bite was deteriorating; her teeth were breaking down,” Dr. Field explains. “We could just fix things a tooth at a time as they continue to break, or we could hit the reset button.”
Traditional veneers would address all her concerns and provide her with a bright, younger-looking smile.
“We could give her a new smile, improve the aesthetics, the color, the shapes, all while fixing her bite and getting the teeth to function properly,” Dr. Field says. Afterwards, Dr. Field says it was easy to tell what an impact the transformation had on her. “You can actually see the difference in her smile,” he says.
“Afterwards she just lit up. She’s a very radiant person who dealt with the fact that her teeth never looked great. Every time she comes to the practice now, she is absolutely beaming.”
Best Smile Forward
For this patient, having a camera-ready smile was vital. As an employee of Zoom, constantly on camera, she felt held back by her smile. Struggling with teeth discoloration and issues with size and shape, she felt she couldn’t make the next step forward in her career without improving her smile.
Addressing her concerns regarding discoloration and some size and shape issues, Dr. Field determined veneers would make the biggest impact. Considering her need to maximize benefit while minimizing financial impact, Dr. Field chose eight teeth to apply veneers to.
“We decided on eight veneers, and she was super happy with that,” Dr. Field says. “It worked out well. And because she has a big smile, in the future, if we ever want to add more veneers we absolutely can.”
The result for this patient is a white smile that looks uniform and straight. The strategic use of veneers helps balance and broaden her smile for a refreshed and bright look.
Improving a Smile Without Changing It
Just out of college and beginning his professional career, this patient wanted a smile update that wouldn’t drastically change his existing one.
“We really weren’t trying to make major shape changes, because we generally liked the shape of his teeth,” Dr. Field says. “We needed to alter the length a little bit, as he did have a little bit of wear. But ultimately, he said, ‘I just want to have the best version of me that I can have.’”
To meet his needs without altering the look of his teeth too much, Dr. Field decided on prepless veneers based on his current smile. “In our design process, we tried to use his existing teeth as inspiration as we were shaping the new teeth,” Dr. Field explains.
This addressed the wear and discoloration the patient had, and provided him with a refreshed, updated smile that still looked like him. “He loves his new smile,” Dr. Field says. “It’s a different level of confidence that he just didn’t have before.”
To see what’s possible with your smile, see Dr. Field for a virtual consultation at SmileVirtual.com.
