Watertown Dentist's Computer Program Lets
Patients Preview their Pearly Whites |
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From: Watertown Tab & Press
Watertown, MA
April 8, 1999
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Dr. Lawrence Brooks, a Watertown dentist, has developed technology to allow cosmetic dentists and their
patients to see into the future.
Called Smile-Vision, the three year-old technology takes digital photographs of patients' smiles and
manipulates the teeth on the computer screen, using principles of dentistry to show patients what their
teeth would look like with a variety of dental cosmetics such as crowns, veneers, bonding and whitening.
The service, which is gaining popularity nationwide, takes the guesswork out of shopping for a new
smile, and allows patients to make more informed decisions about cosmetic dentistry, said Brooks.
We've changed the whole way it's done," he said.
Dentists who use Smile-Vision are supplied with a digital camera and computer equipment. Patients
contemplating cosmetic dentistry are photographed smiling and the photo is electronically sent to
Professional Lab Service on Walnut Street, Brooks' commercial dental laboratory, which specializes,
in cosmetic dentistry. A team of four trained technicians, supervised by a dentist, digitally
manipulate patients' real teeth to reflect the work they want done, and both the before and after
photos are sent back to the dentist.
Dentists receive results within a few days, and patients generally see their smile makeovers within a
week, said David Brooks, director of marketing for Smile-Vision and Dr. Brooks' son.
Lawrence Brooks said he and other dental professionals had been creating virtual smiles for more than
a decade, but prior to Smile-Vision, dentists sent slides or photographs through the mail to services,
where the hard copies were scanned in and the teeth moved. The results were then printed out and mailed
back to the dentists, a process that was less clear and accurate and more time consuming, Brooks said.
Plastic surgeons also commonly use something akin to Smile-Vision to show patients what they would like
with a face-lift or liposuction, said Brooks, but the technology is best suited to cosmetic dentistry
because it heals with hard surfaces.
Smile-Vision is a communication tool between the cosmetic dentist and the patient, said Dr. Herb Yolin,
a Brookline dentist and one of 100 dentists nationwide who uses Smile-Vision in his practice.
"What I like about Smile-Vision is it allows me to interact with the patient better because I can get a
better understanding of what it is they want," said Yolin.
Not only can he better understand what his patients want, but his patients can better understand what
they can and cannot have, said Yolin. Sometimes patients will want a certain type of work done that is
not feasible because of their bite or other dental factors, and Smile-Vision show them what the
consequences of a particular type of cosmetic dentistry will be, good or bad, he said.
Some patients decide to upgrade their cosmetic dentistry thanks to the service, said Yolin, who says he
will sometimes show patients pictures of what they would look like with the requested work and what they
would look like with the "ideal" dental cosmetics.
Based on his cost, Yolin estimates that most offices would charge patients between $50.00 and $100.00 for
a Smile-Vision smile, but he has never charged his patients for the service.
"It is a cost factor, but I believe its part of the communication process," said Yolin.
The communication process sometimes leads to a lost sale, with patients opting not to have cosmetic
surgery done at all - something Brooks says is a benefit to patient and dentist in the long run.
"That's OK, that's good. We want to make sure they're happy. No dentist can afford to have unhappy
clients," said Brooks.
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