When it comes to creating the most beautiful, bespoke smile, there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes here at Sensational Smiles. Here are the steps we take to ensure that you get the smile you have been dreaming about.
1. We find out what you want
We begin by carefully listening to your concerns. You may want us to work on certain teeth only, or you just want a brighter smile that is a lot easier to do than placing veneers. Maybe you would like us to treat the whole mouth? It is important for us to understand exactly what you want so that we can find the best solution for you..
2. Examine your teeth to ensure your health comes first
Although you may have come to us specifically to improve your appearance, it is important we ensure that the rest of your teeth are healthy to prevent you from developing issues in the future. There is no point in getting really good-looking teeth if they do not last!
We check to ensure you do not have oral cancer, check your gums, teeth, and bite so that we are ready to create your perfect smile.
3. Take impressions of your teeth to make a wax-up
Once we have models of what your teeth currently look like, we will spend some time in the laboratory carving out what we think would look great on you. We would have taken photos of your current smile and face so that we can look at a variety of factors to achieve the best result. The factors mentioned below have a significant influence on the result, and we will look at all of them to blend everything in nicely:
- Shape of your face.
- Shape of your body and your build.
- The symmetry of your face.
- The colour of your skin and lips.
- The length of your upper lip to the gum level.
- The size, volume, and shape of your lips.
- Amount of tooth showing with your mouth at rest.
- Amount of tooth you show when smiling.
- Your age and how this affects your face (not just your chronological age)
- Facial support and volume of fat tissue.
- Size and shape of your existing teeth.
Once we have assessed the factors mentioned above, our highly skilled dental technician will carve out teeth from wax.
4. The preview stage
We can then place the wax setup into your mouth so that we can see what the result looks like before we start work on your mouth. At this stage, we will check to see how your new smile affects all the factors above and see if it looks nice. We will also allow you to review them and let you have some time to note what you like and what you do not like about them. The more descriptive you are the better, although our team has a very good eye at what looks nice and what doesn’t.
At the end of the appointment, we remove the wax and send it back to the laboratory to make adjustments as needed. If we get a good result right from the start, we can skip the next stage.
5. The tooth preparation stage (if needed)
Most of the time we will need to grind a small amount of your teeth away. However, this may not be necessary. We always try to preserve as much tooth as possible because it is the best thing for you. The reason we need to remove a bit of your tooth is that if we place veneers straight onto your unprepared teeth, they may look a little bulky. Also, if your teeth are overlapped or crooked, they will need a bit more grinding.
Once the teeth have been prepared, we will place temporary veneers onto them. These should look pretty much as good as the result. If there are any changes to the temporary veneers you (or we) want, we can make them directly there and then. We then send you away to test it all out.
6. Review visit
During the time you have been away, we would have asked you to make notes of everything you do not like about your new smile. We would then adjust your temporary veneers until you are 100% happy. Then, an impression is taken and sent to the laboratory. They will use this to handmake your final veneers, which are made of high strength pressed porcelain.
7. The fit
During the fit appointment we will check to ensure your veneers fit well and blend in nicely with your teeth. We get you to check them to ensure you are 100% happy with the appearance and then once everything has been checked, we cement them in with high strength cement.
