Digital Smile Design

Digital Smile Design (DSD) is a modern digital tool used in dentistry to improve diagnosis, treatment visualization, and communication between the dentist and the patient about the expected results.

DSD is used in implant treatment, veneers, fillings, gingival (gum) esthetics, orthodontics, and much more.

DSD is the perfect tool to achieve a healthy and natural smile that matches your facial features. It allows you to digitally design your smile and visualize it before starting treatment.

Best of all, your dentist can predict the result very accurately so you can avoid unpleasant surprises during your dental treatment.

DSD, a modern tool in patient-centered dentistry

Today’s patients want to improve the functional appearance of their teeth and achieve a natural and harmonious smile, i.e., they are looking for professional dental treatments with favorable esthetic results. Dentists using DSD treat both dental and functional problems, simultaneously considering the emotional needs and esthetic expectations of their patients, helping them to achieve a beautiful and healthy smile.

Digital Smile Design enables comprehensive dental treatments that take into account all the patient’s needs. It also facilitates the dentist’s work and makes it possible to fulfill medical and esthetic expectations.

Advantages of Digital Smile Design

The main advantages of performing the dental treatment using DSD are:  

• Increased predictability and accuracy of dental treatment. Images can be magnified by more than 400% so that the dentist can see much more details than in conventional treatment.
• Better communication between the patient and the dentist about the expected results. 
• Greater patient participation in their smile design. 
• More profitable teamwork among all the specialists involved in the dental treatment. 
• Less patient dissatisfaction since they can get an idea of the final result before starting treatment. 
• The design of a smile totally adapted to the physical characteristics and expectations of the patient. 

Process of Digital Smile Design

The DSD is a very practical tool, and in only five steps, the patient can obtain a complete smile design: 

1. Preliminary consultation: Here, the dentist interviews the patient to know their expectations and explains the process to be followed.
2. Digital full mouth recording and scanning: In this step, the dentist takes a series of high-quality digital photos and makes a video of the patient’s smile. In addition, a digital scan is performed with an intraoral scanner to obtain a complete and detailed full mouth 3D record. 
3. Digital smile simulation: Here, the dentist, in collaboration with the DSD Planning Center and specialized software, creates several digital smile models. In this step, the patient can visualize the before and after of the different options offered by the dentist. 
4. Patient review: After analyzing the different smile design options, the patient selects the one that best suits their expectations. The dentist then designs a mock-up and prints it with the help of a 3D printer.
5. 3D mock-up testing: In this step, the patient tests the 3D mock-up directly in their mouth and visualizes the final result of the treatment before starting it. In addition, they can experience how the new smile will change their facial expression.

After choosing the most suitable smile, the dentist makes a treatment plan and schedules all the dental and cosmetic procedures necessary to achieve the expected results: orthodontics, whitening, veneers, etc. 

DSD in our dental practice

Digital Smile Design has allowed dentistry to evolve to a higher level. DSD is a digital tool that allows accurate predictions of dental treatments and astonishing results.

The DSD procedure begins in our dental practice with a free initial consultation to learn about the patient’s expectations and explain the different treatment options.

Talk to us. We will be pleased to answer your questions.