Digital Smile Design: A Tool for the Team to Treatment Plan Multidisciplinary Cases and to Communicate with the Patient.

Description

Digital Smile Design is a multi-purpose tool that can help the dentist during different phases of treatment. From the first visit until the final cementation the DSD protocol can be utilized by the dental team and the patient to understand the aesthetic issues, the elaboration of the proper treatment planning and also improving the effectiveness of the clinical sequence, facilitating the communication between clinicians and the technician. Lines and shapes drawn on extraoral pictures which give appropriate references can be transferred to intraoral photos and this helps the team to widen the vision of the case, understanding the limitations, highlighting the esthetic issues and pre-visualizing the outcome. It also allows continuous re- evaluations of the treatments outcomes, providing valueless growth of the team’s skills. DSD changes the method that the clinician utilizes to communicate with the patient. Most of the time we are not very good at explaining procedures, sequences and rationales of the treatment plans. Videos, photos and presentations help improve this communication. This is the reason why it can also be considered a philosophy, since the patient’s education is improved, allowing the patient to select the ideal treatment that is ethically customized to the patients’ need and lead to superior results. Last, but not least, will also increase case acceptance that is a critical aspect for the success of any dental office.Digital Smile Design is a multi-purpose tool that can help the dentist during different phases of treatment. From the first visit until the final cementation the DSD protocol can be utilized by the dental team and the patient to understand the aesthetic issues, the elaboration of the proper treatment planning and also improving the effectiveness of the clinical sequence, facilitating the communication between clinicians and the technician. Lines and shapes drawn on extraoral pictures which give appropriate references can be transferred to intraoral photos and this helps the team to widen the vision of the case, understanding the limitations, highlighting the esthetic issues and pre-visualizing the outcome. It also allows continuous re- evaluations of the treatments outcomes, providing valueless growth of the team’s skills. DSD changes the method that the clinician utilizes to communicate with the patient. Most of the time we are not very good at explaining procedures, sequences and rationales of the treatment plans. Videos, photos and presentations help improve this communication. This is the reason why it can also be considered a philosophy, since the patient’s education is improved, allowing the patient to select the ideal treatment that is ethically customized to the patients’ need and lead to superior results. Last, but not least, will also increase case acceptance that is a critical aspect for the success of any dental office.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Learn the how to use DSD for treatment-planning complex cases.

2. Learn how to communicate with your lab.

3. Learn how to use the tool for case acceptance.