Abstract

When most of us finished dental school, PFM crowns and amalgam fillings used to be the standard treatment options. At that time, the focus was to restore the patient’s oral health by eliminating infected areas in the soft tissues or repairing the hard structures with fillings or crowns. There was no real scope for aesthetic improvements because the materials available could not reproduce the optical properties of our teeth. Nowadays, however, we do have materials that can restore the health and function of natural structures as well as their aesthetics.

Nevertheless, very often clinicians fail in understanding patient’s needs. They come to us with concerns regarding the final outcome of the treatment and most of the time with false or unrealistic expectations. For us, it is sometimes difficult to decide which tooth form we can give and which form and esthetic they would like to have. Fortunately, we have tools and techniques, that based on simple photography, smile analysis and morpho-psychology that can help us with a new way of approaching the important first appointment. Once the clinician understands the basic concepts of DSD diagnosis and communication the next logical steps is to go into the technique itself of making the design real. Several aspects of the importance of the type of smile or the prevalence of different tooth forms in nature will be shown based on our own findings.

After the diagnosis based on the DSD protocol is mastered, the next challenge the clinicians face is to choose the right technique for each case and select the appropriate material depending on the indication. We need to have a deep understanding of esthetic parameters and how to prioritize and relativize them in accordance with each patient and based on that choose to make the right indication and choose the right material. We should also keep up to date on new developments in terms of techniques and materials and be aware of their respective advantages and limitations.

The course will provide the necessary tools to master esthetic rehabilitations. Several clinical cases and the challenges that each of them presents during the examination, treatment planning, and execution will be presented and discussed. The participants will provide, if they wish, their own cases and based on them the protocol will be followed. The DSD concept will be shown in detail and the biological, functional and material related issues discussed.

The following aspects will be covered

• Communication between the dentist and the lab
• Diagnostic and shade taking protocol
• Treatment planning from the facial perspective. Smile patterns and the truth about the reference lines
• Tips for efficient photography and videos
• Tips for an efficient wax-up and mock-up
• A demonstration and a hands-on with the protocol on the computer step by step that the participants will be able to follow.
• If a participant agrees a live demonstration will be done.

All these topics will be exemplified with clinical cases fully documented from A to Z in HD resolution.

The course will first present the necessary theoretical background about DSD with a short summary of it. Then tips and tricks about photo-video and how to analyze the patients from the facial perspective are going to be given. Facial, smile and tooth references are going to be given.

The course will also provide the participants with written material explaining several techniques presented during the lectures.

Course objectives

• The participants will learn to:
  
• Take pictures of the patients with any smartphone
  
• Make a simple but effective video fundamental for any diagnostic process
  
• Perform the Digital Smile Design protocol on their computers
  
• .Apply different aesthetic parameters on the analysis of their patients
  
• Correct deficient wax-ups
  
• Perform a mock-up
  
• Document the mock-up and show it in an emotional way to the patient 

Day 1 - Concept and the application of it. Photo-video.

Agenda Day 1

Day 2 - Hands-on with computers, demonstration of a wax-up and final documentation.
Digital design, Digital and traditional mock-up, emotional presentation

Agenda Day 2