Smile Design

What is Smile Design?

The smile plays an important role in aesthetics, most of the facial expressions are with the eyes and the mouth, but unfortunately, not all people are happy with their smile and this can be for various reasons:

• Teeth that are not well aligned
• Not liking the color, shape or size of the teeth
• A very common cause is that they show a lot of gum when smiling. And this is what is called gummy smile or gum smile.

In order to solve all these dissatisfactions, we must do a SMILE DESIGN, which is nothing more than an analysis that is carried out to advise patients on how we can eliminate or minimize those elements that distract us from a pleasant smile and how we can create or emphasize those elements that improve a smile within the limitations of the patient.

When we think of smile design we think of a set of factors:

• Face shape
• Teeth shape, size and color
• Color and shape of the gum,
• Size and mobility of the lips
• The relationships between the 4 elements (face, lips, gums and teeth)

The success of a smile design begins with a personal diagnosis of the patient, where the causes of the disharmony between the face, teeth, gums and lips are identified. Only once we identify these problems, we can design a beautiful, pleasant and natural smile.

Veneers vs Smile Design

Many patients associate the design of smiles with porcelain veneers. When they go to the office and ask for a smile design, they immediately think of veneers, as if they were synonyms.

Although it is true, veneers, whether made of porcelain or another material, are an aesthetic treatment that is used to change the shape and color of the teeth; but this treatment is only one of the many that can be done to achieve a pleasant smile.

First it is designed and then we see the treatment(s) that we have to carry out to achieve the smile design.