Clinical effectiveness of smile design planning

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Current digital technologies have huge effects on all branches of medicine, including dentistry. Digital smile design allows the creation of prosthetic restorations that are both esthetically and functionally reliable. This study reveals a technique for combining two-dimensional (2D) smile design planning with three-dimensional (3D) planning and evaluating its clinical effectiveness. AIM: To study patient satisfaction with the virtual smile design dental service provided with and without the 2D planning stage. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, a mockup was traditionally made (obtaining impressions from the upper and lower jaws, making a wax model of teeth by a technician from a photograph of a patient without a 2D planning stage) using 2D virtual smile design planning. The total sample size was 60 people aged 2535 years, of which 20 were men and 40 were women. Clinical efficacy was assessed by questionnaire using the OHIP-14 questionnaire before and after planning. The answer options for each question were interpreted as almost never, 1 point; sometimes, 2 points; often, 3 points; and very often, 4 points. The scores were inversely correlated. In the first stage, a survey of patients was conducted before planning. Thirty patients underwent traditional mockup, and the remaining 30 patients underwent virtual 2D planning. RESULTS: The quality of life increased by 1.95 times when using traditional mockup manufacturing technology and 2.8 times using 2D virtual planning. This correlation showed that when using traditional 2D smile design planning, the patient cannot see the stages of dentition modeling, and the technician may not take into account all the wishes of the patient. With virtual planning, the patient is involved in this process. Digital smile simulation allows the demonstration of planning, takes into account the wishes of the patient, increases the trust between the doctor and the patient, and thus achieves a successful planning result. CONCLUSION: The obtained results show the high clinical efficiency of virtual smile design planning using the developed protocol.