Digital Smile Design 
or digital smile simulation

What is a perfect smile and how can it be modeled? Many experts dealing with aesthetic medicine are familiar with the difficulties that appear during the correction, and the things that can be perfect for a doctor or a majority of people, is not always appropriate for a persom who carries out some aesthetic intervention.

Doctors have to act as artists and reproduce the "physiology" of the smile, taking into account the requirements of the patient. But the problem is that at different stages of recovery or dental treatment, a team of professionals, who sometimes do not even see the patient live, takes part. Therefore, they focus only on the indicators taken by the dentist. The doctor acts as a communicator between the patient and other professionals.

One of the most progressive and objective tools to facilitate the choice of correction techniques in dentistry is the digital smile modeling protocol. It is hard to say that this is the only method, but it qualitatively affects the result and helps all parts of the chain from the patient to the technician, whose opinion is also taken into account in the process.

Physical or fitting models, on which the preliminary final result is demonstrated, are used for modeling. First, with the help of photographs that show the results of "before" and "after" correction, the patient assesses the need for certain methods for themselves and can understand their impact on the end result.

During digital simulation, the doctor receives photo and video images of the patient, each of which carries some information about the dynamics and physiology of movements.

In the future, these data are needed for aesthetic analysis and processing of data obtained using other survey methods.

At the next stage, a virtual simulation of a smile is performed, followed by the creation of temporary fitting models. These images can be transmitted with a description to the laboratory, where technicians on the basis of available data can correct their work.

When creating a model we conduct:

  • Analysis of the whole face
  • Analysis of lips and mouth
  • Analysis of teeth and gums

During the analysis of the face, landmarks and reference points obtained in full face and profile are taken into account. The analysis of the lips takes into account their symmetry, shape, outlines and location relative to other organs. During the examining of the teeth, the study of dentition, location and size of teeth, the proportion and shape of teeth, texture and color of their surface are conducted.

It should be noted that such a study requires a doctor of high qualification and work experience. In many cases, patience and careful preparation for the study are also required to obtain objective information.

It should be noted that the analysis of all these important parameters requires careful planning of the survey and requires high qualifications. A detailed consideration of this issue is beyond the scope of this article; additional information can be found in numerous textbooks and scientific publications.

In many cases, during the simulation, digital movement of the teeth is performed, which mimics the intervention with aesthetic, orthopedic or implant treatment.

Another important fact is that data obtained during a study can be saved and be a documentary proof of existing violations.