Are you unhappy with your smile? Do you have one or more teeth that are crooked, chipped or yellow from years of coffee, tea, colas or even smoking? Maybe you think your smile is fine, but you wonder what your teeth would look like if they were whiter...
Boca Raton Aesthetic Dentist Dr. Leon F. Gerard
has always been sensitive to some patients' concerns about whether or not cosmetic smile enhancements would be right for them. Early on, Dr. Gerard wondered if there was a way to somehow show a patient a preview of how their smile could look with Cosmetic Dental Treatment, before actually beginning treatment. When Dr. Gerard discovered Adobe Photoshop, he realized this was his solution! He began studying, taking courses and becoming proficient in the software so he could offer his patients Cosmetic Smile Simulations. Using high-definition intra-oral digital photography, Dr. Gerard can analyse the patient's smile in great detail. In this way he can determine precisely what changes need to be made to perfect a patient's smile. Then, Photoshop provides him the tools to virtually perform the treatment in the photograph! In this way, Dr. Gerard can provide a "before and after" virtual simulation to patients considering a major commitment towards changing their smile. This Cosmetic Simulation, along with a thorough examination, complete with xrays, then allows Dr. Gerard to formulate the exact treatment plan to achieve each patient's cosmetic goals.
Many times a relatively simple correction can make a big difference in one's smile and one's entire level of self-confidence! Look carefully at the next 3 examples of Dr. Gerard's cosmetic simulations:
Notice how very subtle changes to only 4 of this patient's upper front teeth can make a world of difference!
On this next simulation, just a bit of cosmetic bonding to the edges of the upper and lower front 4 teeth did the trick to make this patient very happy!
Now, this next simulation was a much more advanced case:
This is a middle-aged man with good teeth, except for the fact that there was simply too much space for the teeth he had! Normally, as we age, the bones of our face shrink, while our teeth do not - consequently, as we slowly "run out of space" for our teeth, they begin to shift and become 'crowded' and uneven. This gentleman needed Orthodontics to "gather his teeth together" and close up the spaces. However, this would then create new spaces with no teeth to fill them! The answer is then to place dental implants to act as artificial (or "bionic", if you prefer...) tooth roots in those new areas where there are no teeth. These implants are then used to support crowns that perfectly match his natural teeth.
A complex case such as this one involves very close communication and cooperation among several different Dentists: the General Dentist will be doing the final restorations, so he ultimately takes responsibility for the outcome. But he also has to rely on the Orthodontist to move the teeth into just the right positions, so that the new spaces that are to receive the Implants are just right. Then, the Implant Surgeon has to place the Implants just right so the General Dentist can have his Laboratory fabricate perfect crowns! All of this complex communication and coordination starts with a Cosmetic Simulation such as this:
This next Cosmetic Simulation is actually a case we are literally about to begin. As presented, the Simulation closes the patient's gap between the 2 upper front teeth (the central incisors), lightens and evens out all the upper teeth using a combination of porcelain crowns and veneers:
