Smile Design Tech: How Digital Makeovers Are Done

You wouldn’t build a custom house without following a detailed blue print. You wouldn’t commission a piece of art without seeing the initial drawing of the artist. So why would designing your smile, which might be the most personal and publicly visible characteristic—be any different? At Thyme Dental, we believe it shouldn’t be. We’ve replaced your guesswork with an accurate architectural blueprint for your smile.

Today, the world of cosmetic dental makeovers has drastically advanced.  At Thyme Dental we embrace the precision of an architect and the artistry of an artist, blending it with cutting-edge smile makeover technology to manufacture your ideal smile with predictable and spectacular outcomes. This precise framework is called Digital Smile Design (DSD). We confidently guarantee that the smile we design for you is not only clinically feasible, but will a precise replica of the smile you pictured in your head.

The Foundation: What Can a Smile Makeover Truly Correct?

A comprehensive smile makeover is a holistic treatment plan tailored to your specific goals. It’s designed to address a wide array of aesthetic concerns and restore both beauty and function. This can include:

• Color and Staining: You have two options when it comes to aging or discoloration from coffee, tea, etc.: you can either eliminate the years of discoloration with whitening procedures, or mask it permanently with custom-shaded ceramic veneers.

• Gaps and Spacing: We can eliminate the gaps between teeth and enhance the overall uniformity of your smile with direct composite bonding or custom porcelain veneers.

• Chipped, Worn, or Broken Teeth: We are able to restore the natural shape and length of a tooth or teeth for appearance, but also for the protection of the damaged teeth. Your smile can be both aesthetically better, and better as a result.

• Misalignment: Crooked or overlapping teeth can now be made to look organized and attractive. This may be the first step and foundational part of your makeover.

• Missing Teeth: The gap in a smile is associated with a lack of confidence, and poor functioning. We can make that gap disappear, using dental implants, bridges, or dentures, which follow your natural outline of teeth.

• “Gummy” Smile: You may have too much gum tissue growing down over your nice white teeth and this could impair appearance. This can be dealt with easily, gently, and immediately as gum contouring to enhance the visible portion of your teeth and improve proportionality in your smile.

• Overall Facial Harmony: You are getting a great smile, and smiles are better framed. If you desire, we can even enhance the fullness of the lips/ surrounding soft tissue with dermal fillers to provide better support to the lip area, and better detail to your final outcome.

The Blueprint: A Step-by-Step Journey to Your New Smile

Our process is designed to be transparent, collaborative, and entirely centered around you.

Step 1: The Discovery & Vision We kick off the journey with a detailed consultation. It is not a quick consultation, it is a discovery. We will listen to your story, we will get to know what you want to achieve and we will evaluate the anatomical complexity of your facial features, lip line, and bite. Using as much information as we can; we will take high-def photos and video of your smile in action. Then we will put this information in our simulation software to create a realistic digital preview of your separate, potential future smile!

Step 2: The Physical Mockup – From Screen to Reality Here, a digital design has been approved, and we convert that visualization into something you can hold onto. We build the first initial mockup in a predetermined high-quality dental resin. This will be the architectural model of your new smile, representing the exact shape, size, and position of the final teeth.

Step 3: The In-Mouth “Test Drive” –The Moment of Truth We have now arrived at the most empowering step for our patients! We will smoothly slip the custom mockup over your teeth – no drilling, no preparation. You will see and feel your new smile in real life. You can check it out in the mirror, take selfies, and notice how it feels to speak, and how it coordinates with your entire look. We can assess every detail with you that day, from how the light reflects off the surfaces of the teeth to the color of the entire smile against your eyes. We will make any necessary adjustments right then and there, until you are 100 percent excited about the preview.

Step 4: Precision Preparation & The Digital Impression – We move forward only after you have absolutely approved the mockup. The mockup serves as a guide for minimally invasive tooth preparation; we will only remove the smallest necessary amount of tooth structure. After the teeth are prepared, we utilize a state-of-the-art intraoral scanner to provide a 3D digital impression. This scan is quick, comfortable, and yet provides far more accurate data for the lab than the old-fashioned goopy putty impressions.

Step 5: The Master Ceramist’s Creation The precise 3D file is sent to the master dental ceramists. These are true artists, who will use the digital map and layer the porcelain by hand to create final veneers or crowns, with natural translucency, colour gradation and texture of real teeth.  The combination of digital procedures and human artistry will provide the resulting veneers and crowns that are indistinguishable from nature’s finest practice.

The Final Result: A Smile Built on Confidence

A digital smile makeover is a journey that replaces anxiety with anticipation and hope with certainty. It transforms you from a passive patient into an active collaborator in your own transformation. The final smile you receive is one you’ve already seen, approved, and fallen in love with.