We have recently started to use Digital Smile Designs to assist our implant surgeons when it comes to  explaining the potential benefits of having grafting or GBR on an implant placement.

To make it quick and easy we simply take a picture that the surgeon has provided of the case they have aesthetic concerns over and then use this to do a quick mock up of how the final teeth may look if the patient decides they just want to have the implant placement without any grafting or GBR.

At the very least it allows the patient to clearly visualise the potential aesthetic compromise that may occur if they choose not to have the Grafting or GBR

Of course none of these are guaranteed outcomes and in fact we are careful to show that the false tissue may in fact not be a perfect match, but it does offer a clear visual indicator of where we are likely to end up if the patient feels that Grafting or GBR are not right for them.

We have found that by working together with our surgeons and offering this service at the very beginning that the patients are much better informed and able to make a choice based on clear visual information.

In this way we all hope to avoid a situation where the patient does not really understand just what we mean when we say they may end up with 'longer looking teeth' or a false tissue that attempts to make the proportion of the teeth look right, but may not be a perfect match to the pink tissue for a number or reasons, particularly in short span anterior cases.

We are always looking for ways to assist our surgeons and ensure that everyone is satisfied with the end result, this Digital Smile Design service is just another of the useful tools that we offer to our partners in order to ensure we make their management of cases simple and predicable.