Smile makeover Archives - Smile Virtuoso

Before and After 2021: Smile Design 2.0 (Part 1) – Performing a smile makeover for dental professionals

Apr 08. 2023

I’ve been meaning to work on my publications for a while but was occupied with my GAMSAT studies, plus the establishment and stabilisation of my new business - Smile Virtuoso, in Pyrmont, NSW. It’s been a year and a half since I updated my blog posts, and now I finally have an opportunity to work on some exciting projects to share and be published in 2023! I want to kick off the blog post in this Before and After section, titled ‘Smile Design 2.0 (part 1 and part 2)’. These blog posts serve as sneak peeks of the cases presented in my upcoming article, where I present a standardised protocol in smile design, explaining the requirements in digital photography and communication...

BEFORE AND AFTER

Before and After 2020: Missing Tooth Replacement on Lateral Incisors (Part 2)

Jun 18. 2021

A Caucasian male patient in his youth was introduced to me upon a failure of the previous Maryland-Bridges on 13-11, 21-23. The restorations only lasted for a few months (done by another technician), and I couldn’t identify its cause or never given a specific reason by the treating clinician. In part 1 of the ‘missing tooth replacement’ (click here to read), I presented implant restorations in Zirconia with Ti interface abutment to replace the lateral incisors. For this case, I present more of a conservative and cost-effective option – Maryland-Bridges in lithium disilicate (e.max) for optimum bonding strength. Figs 1-2 show the pre-op condition. Fig 3 shows my standard protocol in shade taking. I make sure to use three different shade guides to identify the...

BEFORE AND AFTER

Before and After 2019: Missing Tooth Replacement on Lateral Incisors (Part 1)

May 28. 2021

A Caucasian female patient in her 20s was introduced to me upon completion of extensive orthodontic treatment to create enough space to replace the missing laterals. It has been a long journey for the patient to get to the point having the implants on the laterals and hoping to achieve the smile that she never thought was possible. There were a few technical challenges that I encountered: the angulation of the screw channels colour matching with the surrounding natural dentition. 1: Today, close to 100% of my implant restorations are requested as screw-retained rather than cement-retained. When the angulation of the implants are not ideal, then my primary choice is to use dynamic abutment – an alternative to the genuine Ti interface...

BEFORE AND AFTER

Before and After 2018: Smile Makeover – Replacement of Existing Restorations

May 14. 2021

A Caucasian female patient in her 40s flew in from Switzerland and stayed in Sydney, Australia, over the Xmas break for the smile makeover. Her existing veneers were only done 4-5 years ago by another technician, and she was unhappy with them due to being over contoured. The treating clinician modified the shape clinically before sending the patient to my studio for a smile design consultation. Thus, her condition was close to ideal, and she was happy with them in general. My job was to identify where we can improve and determine the number of units required to achieve the best possible outcome. Figs 1-3 show the pre-op condition. Upon detailed discussion, I observed the following information. Shape: As noted above, the treating clinician improved...

BEFORE AND AFTER

Before and After 2017: Smile Makeover – Achieving Super-bright Life-like Restorations

Apr 23. 2021

A Caucasian female patient in her 30s visited me for a consultation with temporary restorations in the mouth. She had her first set of veneers, which was about 16 years old. She recently had Invisalign, but the teeth moved out of the alignment. She is also concerned about the root exposure and uneven gingival level. She had missing second premolars and wished to have a brighter smile, in fact, as bright as possible without making them look artificial. She commenced bleaching on her lower dentition to reduce the contrast. We decided to replace the existing restorations from 13-23 – right canine to left canine, and place conservative veneers on 14&24 – right and left first premolar, a total of 8 units...

PUBLICATIONS

Reproducing Nature Part 4: Smile Design

Feb 12. 2021

LVI Visions featured Yugo’s article titled ‘Reproducing Nature: Smile Design in 2008 (published language: English). Introduction: Today, creating a natural-looking smile is essential in cosmetic/aesthetic dentistry. As I mentioned in the first part of this article (European Journal of Eesthetic Dentistry Winter 2008), many people think that white “Hollywood Smiles” look fake but is it true? Have you thought about bleached natural dentition? I think it looks healthy and attractive but doesn’t look fake at all. That is the type of benchmark I set for myself when the patient is after a perfect smile – i.e., bright yet natural. Now, what is the definition of “perfect” anyway? Does it mean that it’s perfectly in proportion, perfectly adapted to the patient’s desire or could...