A lot of people put off booking a smile consultation because they aren't sure what they're signing up for. Will they be talked into veneers? Will it hurt? This is what the first visit with us looks like, from the moment you sit down to the plan you take home.
We start by talking
Before anyone looks in your mouth, Dr Parul will sit with you and ask what's bothering you. Maybe it's one chipped tooth, maybe it's the colour, maybe you just don't like your smile in photos and can't say why. All of those are fine answers. She'll also ask what you like about your smile, because there's usually something worth keeping.
We'll ask about your health too: any medicines, past dental work, whether you grind your teeth or have sensitive teeth. If you have an event coming up, a wedding in the family say, tell us the date. It changes how we plan.
A proper check-up
Then comes a full examination of your teeth and gums, the same health check we described in the last post. We look for bleeding gums, decay, old fillings that need attention, cracks and wear, and we check how your teeth meet when you bite. If we need X-rays, we'll take them. Anything that needs treating for health reasons gets noted first, before the cosmetic plan.
Photographs and a short video
This is the part people don't expect. We take a set of photographs of your face and teeth from several angles: smiling, relaxed, from the side, close up. We also record a short video of you talking and laughing naturally.
Why the video? Because a posed smile for the camera isn't how you smile at your friends. The video shows how your lips really move, how much tooth and gum you show when you speak and whether your smile is even on both sides. It tells us far more than a still photo.
Scans instead of messy moulds
If we're planning cosmetic work, we'll usually take a digital scan of your teeth with an intraoral scanner. It's a small wand that we move around your mouth, and it builds a 3D model on screen in a few minutes. Most people find it far more comfortable than the old trays of putty, especially anyone with a strong gag reflex.
Looking at it together
With your photos and scans on screen, Dr Parul will walk you through what she sees. She'll point out the things we talked about in the earlier posts in this series, like the midline, the curve of your smile, tooth proportions and gum levels, and explain which of them matter for what you want.
Then she'll talk through your options. There is often more than one way to get to a result, and they differ in how much of your natural tooth is involved, how long they take and what they cost. She'll tell you which she'd suggest and why, and she'll also tell you if she thinks something isn't worth doing.
What you go home with
You leave with a written treatment plan, an estimate of cost and an idea of how many visits it will take. If you're going ahead with a smile design, the next step is usually a digital design of your new smile, followed by a trial version you can see in your own mouth before anything permanent is made. We'll cover both in later posts.
There's no pressure to decide on the day. Take the plan home and talk it over with your family. Plenty of people come back with more questions, and that's exactly what we'd hope for.
In the next post, you'll get a look behind the scenes at a working day in Dr Parul's clinic.