Cosmetic dentistry’s rise to public awareness carries a delicate question about ‘selling.’ As we established ealier, the private dentist must operate as a business, and will often use aesthetic dissatisfaction as the genesis of a treatment plan. We also established that this is acceptable behaviour in today’s age of demand for aesthetic treatments. However, we…
Combine more cosmetic dentistry awareness with increased media attention, and we find clinicians treating and managing many requests for personal image enhancement. Previously, patients wouldn’t ask for the treatments, or maybe even the requests were ignored. To some patients today aesthetics are of such importance that —even if clinically unnecessary— these procedures can no longer…
In 2011, an age of extraordinary advances in dentistry, we can look with pride at the advances made in the products and services we are now able to offer patients, and see how far we’ve progressed. A dentist is no longer the ‘tooth drawer’ of the 1500s, nor even the same practitioner he or she…
The Lava™ Crown and Bridge System: A precise match of aesthetics and strength Understanding what makes modern dental lab works so impressive helps the relationship between a lab and a dental practice. Part of the reason modern aesthetics works are so impressive compared to their spiritual ancestors is the quality of the materials labs work…
We all know what a veneer is, and many reading this will be well versed in how to apply them to a patient. However, do we all know where the veneer came from, from its humble roots to its explosion in celebrity? I’ll explore this history, in case a patient or partner ever asks. Dental…
Imposing Aesthetic Preferences While it is their proper role to advise and guide a patient toward a treatment plan, aesthetics clinicians should not impose their own preferences rather than comply with the patient’s wishes. It can be argued that the success of any treatment or procedure is directly related to patient satisfaction. These days, patients…
With regard to the treatment plan and the materials used, what is considered best for the patient may also be something requiring ethical scrutiny. It may also be suggested that over – or under – treatment raises ethical issues of procedures and the available alternatives. There’s no question the dentist and patient need to sit…
As you know, dental schools at best might devote only a few hours to colour science; at worst, they completely ignore it. As early as 1931, E. B. Clark wrote of this in his article The Colour Problem in Dentistry. During the following seventy years, many articles have been authored by leading clinicians and colour…
A patient presents with a tooth damaged by disease or injury, and it now becomes your decision whether to perform a restoration or an extraction; it’s a common situation up and down the world of dentistry. Making this decision is not always a straightforward process, and many clinical factors must be weighed while avoiding, but…
The hazards to general health posed by smoking are well-documented in numerous studies, yet they are being debated and even ignored by a great many people who continue to smoke. While it is true that other studies indicate that the number of smokers has declined in recent years, a very large number of people, many…
