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Composites, whitening rule Once material advances made direct composite bonding possible, a whole new world of opportunities came about for dentists and patients wanting to focus on esthetics. Bonding, along with whitening and the development of all-ceramic restorations, helped cosmetic dentistry begin to take off more than two decades ago. Growth in those areas continues, as evidenced by the latest numbers (see “Bonding, bleaching reign,”
top left). When we asked which elective cosmetic options GPs have performed/delivered in the last month, 86% selected direct composite bonding, followed in order by dispensed take-home professionally supervised whitening (78%), conventional porcelain veneers (55%), and in-office whitening (50%). Also in the past month, one-quarter of you have performed/delivered gingival contouring, 18% did so with invisible aligner orthodontic treatment, and 15% have worked with minimal/no-prep porcelain veneers.
Much of this cosmetic boom has been brought about by patient demand, in part spurred by direct-to-consumer advertising efforts. Eighty-five percent of survey respondents have had patient inquiries about Zoom! Whitening (Discus Dental), while 70% have had patients asking about Lumineers (Den-Mat). “Strong consumer trends translate into money to be made,” said Dr. Bernstein, attributing much of cosmetic dentistry’s growth to patient demands. “The AACD promotes only the highest ethical standards for patient care.” DPR’s 2006 Whitening Survey1 indicated that both patient demand and satisfaction with results were strong. Forty-nine percent of the respondents to that survey indicated that patient demand for professionally dispensed take-home whitening had increased, while just 17% reported a decrease. In-office chairside whitening is even more popular—56% report an increase and only 13% said patient demand had decreased. What’s ahead? There appears to be no end in sight for cosmetic dentistry and its growing patient fan base. When we asked you to look ahead five years, more than three-quarters of you indicated you expect to be providing more elective cosmetic procedures (78%), while less than 1% expect to do less. “The profession has evolved,” Dr. Smigel said. “But the biggest thing that ever happened was the esthetic revolution. It made people think differently in terms of dentists. Instead of dentists just being a sort of by-product of the medical profession, suddenly they were artists and they made people aware of how important the smile was to the quality of life.”
Survey highlights Other highlights from the survey include: • Almost half (46%) of the respondents use the word “cosmetic” in any office signage or Yellow Pages/print/online marketing (see “Exposure for your cosmetic services,” page 72). Additionally, 38% of you have a Web site for your practice. • Before-and-after photographs can be beneficial in a number of ways. They can showcase strong cosmetic improvements and be used for marketing purposes and/or to demonstrate to patients just how much their esthetics have been enhanced. Sixty-five percent of survey respondents take before-and-after photos of patients undergoing elective cosmetic procedures (see “Photos, imaging play key roles,” above).  Digital image enhancement is another method to show patients how certain cosmetic procedures could potentially enhance their smiles. Eighteen percent have taken advantage of this technology. 
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