Smile Simulations for Your Dental Procedures: What to Know

It can be daunting to commit to major changes to your smile - such as implants, veneers, or orthodontic treatment. If you want to improve the look of your teeth, you may want to consult with a dental office that offers smile simulations.

What Is a Smile Simulation?

A smile simulation is one tool of digital dentistry technology. This software gives you a preview of what your teeth could look like after treatment is finished. Your dentist will upload a photo of you to a smiledesign program which can be edited so you can compare and contrast how different treatment options would affect your teeth.

What Are Some of the Benefits of a Smile Simulation?

If you are hesitant about proceeding with a treatment because of costs and other concerns, a smile simulation can assuage your fears. This technology offers many other benefits.

You Add Another Tool to the Planning Phase

Before your dentist will even begin changing your smile, he or she will want to establish a diagnostic record. Your dentist may:

• Take your complete medical history to make sure you are healthy enough for certain treatments
• Take photographs to give you before, during, and after pictures and to see how a treatment affects your face shape
• Take x-rays to catch pre-existing conditions that could be potential problems during treatment
• Take impressions of your teeth so that a dental lab can make a study model of your teeth. These study models will help your dentist understand how your teeth relate to one another and how he or she should proceed with the case.

In short, all of these actions help your dentist plan the best course of treatment and help him or her anticipate a final result. However, a lot of these diagnostic tools tend to help the dentist anticipate results rather than the patient. A smile simulation is a beneficial tool because it helps the patient feel more involved in the planning phase and helps him or her have a clearer picture of the final results.

You Get to Choose Your Aesthetic Preferences

If you plan to get veneers, dentures, crowns, or other restorations that alter the shape of your natural teeth, then you and your dentist need to decide on:

• Tooth shape
• Tooth color
• Tooth size
• Tooth translucency

In the past, when digital dentistry software wasn't available, a dentist would likely choose restorations based on certain factors - like your gender, age, and ethnicity. For instance, as a person ages, enamel becomes more translucent, so a younger person may want false teeth that are opaquer.

Men typically have larger teeth than women; and, variances in tooth shapes exist between different ethnicities. While these factors can certainly guide a dentist to pick the appropriate restorations, no one-size-fits-all solution is available.

A smile simulation is helpful because your dentist doesn't have to rely solely on these factors and guess what restorations you might like. Again, the smile simulation involves the patient more so you get a say in what you want your restorations to look like. Smile simulation software have smile libraries, so you can mix and match different tooth shades or sizes.

You Get to See the Big Picture

Some treatments may take a while to complete. For instance, if you want to get dental implants, you may need to get bone grafts and then wait for those to heal before surgery. And even once the implant is placed, you may have to wait even longer for the final crown to be constructed at a dental lab.

A smile simulation can help you see the bigger picture and motivate you to continue a lengthy treatment path even when it seems like no end is in sight. Plus, you could experience post-operative depression after more invasive dental treatments, so a smile simulation can be a great reminder that your body will heal and that you will get used to your new smile.