From Volume 42, Issue 3, April 2015 | Pages 282-290
Aesthetic treatment may be patient driven and usually by a ‘want’, rather than a ‘need’. This paper describes the management of a patient who presented with aesthetic wants and clinical needs, both of which were caused as a result of unsuccessful aesthetic treatment which the patient had received previously. The diagnostic process, discussion of the treatment plan and clinical procedures, which produced a satisfactory result, are described and illustrated.
The clinical need for treatment is based upon the principle that, whenever treatment is proposed for a patient, the treatment is necessary to secure and maintain the oral health of that patient. A patient may seek out treatment to solve a clinical problem that he/she may be aware of, such as pain, trauma or disease. In such cases, there is a clinical need for treatment, unrelated to aesthetics, and treatment objectives are based on:
In some aesthetic cases, the primary reason for attendance may be to improve the appearance of the patient's mouth and teeth. This may require treatment in an otherwise healthy and stable mouth and, in so doing, any treatment provided is unnecessary from a clinical need point of view. However, there is no reason for the objectives of treatment to deviate from the list presented above.
In an ideal world, any treatment provided for purely aesthetic reasons would not compromise the long-term viability of the teeth or oral health. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world and purely aesthetic treatment carries the risk that, even if carried out to an exceptionally high standard, the teeth may be compromised as a result of intrusive treatment.
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