Do you, as a dentist or as a lay-reader, agree with the above statement?
Dentistry is divided currently into two schools of thought - the high end dentistry practised across the globe is want based dentistry while lower down the value chain is need based dentistry.
One school says that it is essential to create an emotional link between the patient's self esteem and his smile. If we feel that we look and feel better when we have the perfect smile, we will be willing to go that extra mile to achieve that smile. We need to WANT to look better. And it is no secret that a good smile is an irreplacable ingredient in a good personality.
The other school (which is a school of one - namely me) doesn't believe in fixing what isn't broken. If you ARE unhappy with your smile, then I believe you SHOULD get it fixed, no matter what the cost. But I am not going to sell fairness creams to dark skinned people to make them believe they are better looking when they are fair. Technically that is an unfair comparison, because hey, smile designing DOES work while fairness creams don't, but I hope you get my point. I am NOT going to create in you a void that I will later fill.
I was confused in this matter for a long while, simply because the first school of thought has both logic and esthetics on its side. But I was building a second clinic currently, and my interior designer was just unwilling to listen to me when I wanted to cut costs and not go for what was her idea of esthetics, because I didn't see the value in it. But she did, and as interior designers so often do, they work with their own ideas of beauty without taking the clients' into consideration. And that is not a philosophy I want to follow in my dental practice. Not all that is gold does glitter, as Tolkien famously said. It is a dentist's job to suggest and explain what can be done to your smile, but not convince or create a need where none existed, especially where invasive, irreversible, expensive dental treatments are advised.
Am I right or wrong? What is your opinion, dear reader? What would you like from your dentist?
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