I think the first thing is to choose a dentist where they have lots of photos of cases that are similar to yours and where they’ve achieved the kind of results that you’d like. So, a dentist that does a lot of cosmetic dentistry tends to have quite a bit of a portfolio of photos and cases because that’s what they’re doing every week. And you want to use someone who does this sort of procedure often, usually, their techniques are good, they’ve got their systems and processes down, and the results are more predictable. And so, being able to see photos of cases that are like yours, being able to look at that and go yeah that’s the kind of design that I like, is a really good first step.

The second thing is, make sure you go to a dentist who uses some sort of either Digital Smile Design or some sort of digital design technology that then transfers to a model so that you can actually see your smile before committing completely to any sort of treatment. Nowadays we can take a scan of your teeth and take a good set of photos and actually design a smile digitally. We then superimpose that and mock that up in our patient’s mouth, so they can see exactly where we’re thinking of going. That gives you peace of mind but it also helps the dentist plan the case well. Unfortunately, it’s a step that’s often missed for cost-cutting reasons by some practitioners and it really does cost in the end result. And it costs in terms of tooth structure as well.

The third thing you should do is choose a dentist who does their ceramic work here in Australia, who partners with a really artistic, fantastic ceramist. And so, you want to ask, is my laboratory work of my veneers or crowns or implants, are they going to be made here in Australia? Or is that going to be shipped offshore? Or are you going to do them in your office yourself? And you want someone who partners with an artist when it comes to ceramic work. And that really does make a big, big difference. Again, you’ll get a hint of this when you’re looking at their photos. You really want to see that there’s lots of character in the teeth, that they don’t look blank, that everything flows beautifully.

The fourth thing is you want someone who’s going to give you some different options. You don’t want to be told just one thing that can be done. Someone that’s going to give you all of the options that are available to you, so that you can decide what’s the best thing for you.