Trial Smiles
If you have discoloured, badly shaped or worn-down teeth, perhaps you’ve considered fixing them.
But how can you visualize what the makeover will look like before you decide? The answer is a ‘dental mock-up’ which build temporary tooth surfaces that have the same ‘look and feel’ as permanent dental restorations.
Like building a house
To understand mock-ups, let’s start with the analogy of building a house. An architect’s 3-D model will give you far deeper insight into what you’re buying than a 2-D plan. So too with cosmetic dentistry. The Dental Mock-Up allows the dentist to build new temporary surfaces on your existing teeth, for a personal evaluation period that can last several weeks or more. The procedure is totally reversible.
Nothing is as real as this
There are several ways to preview your new smile. You can look at photos of similar cases, examine a dental model, or see a computer image of your smile with new teeth superimposed. But nothing matches the reality of a Dental Mock-Up.
The mock-up technique uses composite (a tooth coloured material), which is lightly and temporarily attached to the surface of your existing teeth. It lets you ‘test drive’ your smile, checking how you feel about it and what others have to say.
When is this procedure recommended?
We propose dental mockups in cases when a significant change is anticipated:
- Broadening your smile and even enlarging or lengthening your teeth.
- Restoring your teeth to their natural size and shape after excessive wear or tooth grinding. You will see an immediate rejuvenating effect.
- Correcting crooked or gappy teeth, without waiting months to see the effect of braces (orthodontics). Perhaps visualizing an alternative to braces.
- Considering a full mouth reconstruction, where the bite may need to be ‘opened’.
What does a dental mock-up involve?
The teeth being ‘mocked up’ are the ones that are candidates for porcelain veneering or crowning. These teeth are temporarily bonded with a tooth coloured composite material. This is a soft putty-like substance, hardened with a special light, shaped and then polished until it looks like natural tooth enamel. It can be easily modified – reduced or augmented – to achieve an optimal result.
Your new tooth surfaces can be left in place for several weeks, or even a few months, while you evaluate their comfort, aesthetics, looks and feel. We give you ‘before and after’ photos to help you reach the best decision.
(Left to right) Before treatment, mockup and final outcome.
A blueprint for your permanent teeth
If you’re satisfied with how you look and feel at the end of the evaluation period, we’ll then make an impression (a mould) of the result. This is used as a blueprint for building porcelain veneers. The composite material is removed and replaced with the much harder, stronger and more durable porcelain material. These permanent teeth will look even better and more natural than the mock-up teeth.
Should you decide not to proceed with treatment, no harm is done. We will gently remove the composite material without harming the underlying enamel and polish up your natural teeth to their original state.
What does it cost in money and time?
We carry out the entire ‘Dental Mock-Up’ procedure in one dental visit, having determined first that your mouth is free of any infection and your teeth are clean and hygienic. Time and cost factors depend on the complexity of treatment and how many teeth are involved. As a guideline, we can say that a half-hour visit will cost around £150, while a half-day visit (five hours) will cost around £1,200. During your consultation with us before arranging a Dental Mock-Up, we will discuss the value of following this route.
Summary of benefits
- Visualize and test the feel of proposed treatment before making a commitment. Consider it as an insurance policy for success.
- Consult with friends and relatives about their opinions as to the visual effect.
- Have changes made easily until you are comfortable with the final result. Be confident that the final permanent result will look exactly the same as the Mock-Up.
- Help the dentist to evaluate more precisely what can be achieved with a ‘final’ result.
- Revert easily to your original dental state at any time without harming the underlying tooth structure.
