Would you accept an anterior composite restoration with the wrong shade? Or perhaps a direct anterior restoration that stains due to not being finished and polished properly?
Cosmetic dentistry is everywhere and has an impact on everything we do. It is all too easy to become misguided and wrongly assume that cosmetic dentistry is all about ‘smile makeovers’, whitening and over-exuberant treatment using veneers. The truth is, making your clinical work cosmetic simply means it will show balance and harmony with the existing oral architecture. Does this truly warrant a distorted stigma?
The British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry has worked hard to re-educate all types of dental clinician not to consider ‘cosmetic’ a dirty word and instead to consider the cosmetic factor in everything they do. We need to realise that patients will not often comment when something looks right, but trust they will always comment when something looks wrong. The concept of aligning and use of composite resin is one that has changed the viewpoint of many. We are now doing things with these minimal techniques we never thought could work. The result has been that we see stoical attitudes starting to take note and realise the world is not flat.
Changing attitudes
Attitudes change when educational messages reach individuals or groups/institutions/ associations that become willing and ready to listen. The growth in cosmetic dentistry has been huge and UK clinicians are looking for support and knowledge bases they can trust. The BACD’s educative and conference feedback shows the need for greater exposure, support and education. We see that attitudes, even amongst world leaders in their fields, have changed and developed and cosmetic dentistry offers less biological cost and more predictable results. Further delivery of this message is required to inform the profession that such results are possible without extreme forms of intervention.
Breakthrough
The BACD is eager to give younger dentists the same opportunity in terms of responsible career progression, skills enhancement and restorative methodologies. This way, they would be able to flourish earlier in their careers with access to excellent quality courses and knowledge.
There have previously been some differences of perceived ethos and opinions at times between the established higher education and the more newly established dental groups and academies. However more recently these have reduced massively as perceptions have started to change. Dramatic and aesthetic results can now be gained through minimally invasive dentistry. Cosmetic dentistry is no longer being seen as destructive and unethical. A better understanding and communication with our colleagues has helped to give a more accurate insight, that each group has ultimately one goal in mind. That is to act ethically, to give patients a functional, healthy and aesthetic result with minimal destruction of the dentition.
Increasing demand
The demand for dental cosmetics has shot up in the UK over the past 10 years due to a number of media and social related factors making us all a lot more aware of our general health, appearance and beauty regime. This has changed the perception that cosmetic dentistry is exclusive to celebrities; it is of course available to most of the general public. This increase in awareness has allowed people to research procedures and treatments before undertaking them a lot more extensively and has given them the ability to question their dentists a lot more about their best options.
Fighting misconceptions
There is a real buzz amongst the dental cosmetic industry as huge strides have been made in the past 10-20 years, which will be changing many people’s lives forever. Gone are the days of mass veneers placed on every single patient that walks through the door of a cosmetic practice as the options available to patients and their perceptions of dental treatment have changed. Teeth straightening, bonding and ceramics have taken huge leaps recently allowing many of the general public to now consider cheaper, more natural solutions to enhancing their smiles. The main advantages are a huge preservation of natural enamel but still maintaining the high standards and results.