A senior partner at a large, powerful accounting firm commented that she would arrange the seating for business meetings so that her colleagues were seated directly in front of her rather than to the side. Why? So that they would not see her maxillary bicuspid, which had a small interproximal display of gold. The culprit was a gold onlay placed by her previous dentist 20 years earlier. Over time a dinginess often occurs with interproximal metal restorations (see Figure 10-1, A and B).
This conversation was initiated when the patient was shown buccal corridor photographs. A traditional anterior photograph or “lips” picture does not really show the side view. Photographs where people are looking either obliquely or laterally allow the dentist and patient to discuss problems seen only from these perspectives.
This patient referred herself to the practice because she distrusted self proclaimed “cosmetic dentists”who aggressively promote their procedures. Yet a routine use of intraoral photography allowed her to enter into a course of self-discovery and served as the basis for an honest exchange of ideas and concerns. Such a course can lead to esthetic dentistry procedures without the ethical dilemma of “pushing” esthetics on the patient.
Happily, this patient chose a comprehensive esthetic reconstruction (see Figure 10-1, C to E). She now smiles and laughs and conducts meetings without rearranging the chairs in the ROOM.