Smile designing

Smile designing is the planning stage of cosmetic work: the shape, length, colour and arrangement of the front teeth are worked out and shown to you — often as a trial you can wear — before anything permanent is done.

What it is

A smile is not a row of identical white rectangles. It has a rhythm to it — the two central teeth slightly longer, the edges following the curve of the lower lip, small differences between left and right that stop it looking artificial. Getting that right is a matter of planning, not of picking a shade from a chart.

Smile designing starts with what you actually dislike. People arrive saying 'my teeth are yellow' and turn out to mean the gaps, or the way one tooth sits forward, or that too much gum shows when they laugh. Photographs and measurements of your face, lips and existing teeth turn that into something specific.

From there a proposed design is made — digitally, or as a wax model of the new shapes, or as a temporary trial bonded straight onto your teeth for an hour so you can see it in a mirror and in your own photographs. Changes made at this stage cost nothing but time. Changes made after porcelain has been fitted are a different matter entirely.

The result is a plan, not a single treatment. It may be delivered by whitening alone, by reshaping, by veneers, by moving teeth with orthodontics first, or by a combination. Honest planning sometimes concludes that braces for a few months will give a better and more conservative result than cutting healthy teeth for veneers.

You may need this if…

• Teeth that look worn, chipped or uneven at the edges
• Spacing or crowding at the front
• Discoloured teeth that whitening alone has not fixed
• Too much gum showing when you smile
• Old crowns or veneers that no longer match
• An upcoming wedding or event and a smile you avoid in photographs

What happens, step by step

1. Talking it through

   What specifically bothers you, and what you want to look like. Photographs from several angles, including how your lips move when you speak and smile.

2. Examination first

   Cosmetic work is built on healthy foundations. Decay, gum disease and a bite that is grinding teeth away all get addressed before appearance, or the new work will not last.

3. The design

   A proposed shape and arrangement, shown as a digital mock-up or a wax model of the new teeth.

4. The trial smile

   Where possible the design is placed temporarily over your own teeth so you can see and feel it before committing. This is the moment to ask for changes.

5. Treatment

   Delivered by whatever the plan calls for — whitening, reshaping, orthodontics, veneers, crowns, or a combination, in a considered order.

6. Refinement

   Final adjustments once everything is in place and you have lived with it.

Looking after it afterwards

• Cosmetic work is not maintenance-free; it needs the same cleaning and checks as everything else.
• If you grind your teeth, wear the night guard — it is what protects the work.
• Tea, coffee, red wine and tobacco stain natural teeth and the edges of restorations.
• Come back if something chips or feels different rather than waiting for the next check-up.

Questions people actually ask

This page is general information about smile designing. It is not advice about your own mouth — for that you need to be examined.