Dentistry attended the world premiere of Dentsply Sirona’s A Smile is Born – a dental documentary highlighting the importance of the patient experience and communication within the dental team.
Last month, Dentistry attended Dentsply Sirona’s world premiere of A Smile is Born in London. The exclusive red carpet event was held at the luxurious Everyman cinemas, and took place simultaneously in three locations across the UK – London, Glasgow and Manchester
A Smile is Born is a dental documentary that follows the patient journey of Luke, who was previously fearful of dentists and put off dental treatment for a long time.
Luke’s treatment plan consisted of both orthodontic work and implant dentistry. Dr Nina Shaffie and her team at The Sandford began Luke’s dental journey with Suresmile aligners.
The orthodontic transformation was followed by the work of Dr Martin Wanendeya at Ten Dental Facial, who performed a tooth extraction and immediate placement of a Primetaper implant, Dentsply Sirona’s latest implant that provides exceptional primary stability.
Finally, Dr Wanendeya perfected Luke’s smile with teeth whitening treatment and composite bonding. The entire treatment plan was finished in an impressive timeframe, as Luke had an important event for which he wanted to show off his new smile.
According to Nina and Martin, this timeline was only possible thanks to a tremendously compliant patient and excellent communication between the different dental teams and the dental technicians over at Nexus Dental Lab.
The documentary demonstrated an end-to-end digital workflow which combined orthodontics and implant placement and highlighted the advancement of digital dentistry.
Transforming a patient’s confidence
Luke’s reaction to seeing his teeth following completion of his treatment was a stand-out moment of the documentary for everyone in the audience. Having started his treatment reserved and full of doubt, to finishing it with newfound confidence in both himself and his appearance was touching.
Luke was a ‘perfect patient’, according to both Nina and Martin. He wore his rubber bands despite how complicated they were for his case, he showed up to all appointments, and updated his dental team with any questions or concerns he had.
‘There’s been a very good response,’ said Andy Prior, account manager at Dentsply Sirona. ‘It’s something that’s really new and really got the imagination of everyone.’
Scott Chennells, national sales manager at Dentsply Sirona, said to Dentistry: ‘I think we at Dentsply Sirona always focus on the industry side, but we rarely see it from what the impact is for the patient, and it was really nice to see that.’
‘Patients are at the heart of what we do’
Martin attended the London premiere and spoke with Dentistry about his experience both during Luke’s treatment and his feelings watching it back that night. He said, ‘What we’ve seen is something quite special in dentistry. We’ve seen a film that encompasses so many different aspects.
‘First, it comes from the patient perspective. The patients are at the heart of what we do.
‘The second thing is that it shows the different specialities and the technical parts involved in dentistry.
‘And the third is that it’s essentially about a transformation of a person. It’s about what effect that transformation has on him and actually their confidence after that.
‘We mustn’t forget that we have the ability within what we do to really transform people’s appearance and their confidence. So that was beautiful about the film.’
‘You as a dentist might see 10, 15, 20 people in your practice. In times when you feel slightly down, slightly low, or slightly not as positive about your profession, remember the people at the other end of it.’
Digital is the way to go
The screening was followed by a Q&A session. The London panel starred Martin Wanendeya, Tif Qureshi, a general dentist and regular user of Suresmile clear aligners, and Hugo Souza, a dental technician from Nexus Dental Laboratory.
Dental technician Hugo said: ‘What studies are showing right now in terms of digital communication between labs and dentists is a higher approval rate. It is the way to go. I don’t think there’s another way around it.’
This was not missed by the attendees of the evening either. Dr Mauricio Moreno, dentist and practice owner, said: ‘It’s been a great experience and the movie is fantastic. The connection between the lab and the dentist is fantastic.
‘It’s all done via email, you send a case, and it’s all internet communication – it’s fantastic.’
Enjoy your dentistry
‘What I hope the attendees take away from tonight is the fact that digital dentistry is something that can really help them help their patients. That’s the first thing,’ Martin told Dentistry.
‘Second part is that if you’ve got the right tools, because digital dentistry is a tool, if you use that tool correctly, you can actually really carry out some amazing transformations on patients.
‘And the third thing is to enjoy your dentistry. Look at what we can do for people, look at the effect on one person.
‘You as a dentist might see 10, 15, 20 people in your practice – you might be doing that to them. So, in times when you feel slightly down, slightly low, slightly not as positive about your profession, remember the people at the other end of it. A lot of them are really liking what you do for them.’
A beautiful evening
After the panel answered some of the audience’s burning questions, everyone met in the reception area for more drinks and food.
‘The venue was wonderful,’ said Neil Stephen, owner of Stephen Dental Practice in London. When asked which part of the film stood out to him the most, he said: ‘It’s the speed of straightening teeth, which is what all young people need.’
And what’s it like performing dentistry while an entire film crew is setting up with their gear and in your personal space? Not many people could answer that question, but Martin was just the person to give some insight.
‘It was slightly more pressure than your usual case, I’ll admit that. It added another level of pressure, a level of excitement, and real focus because there was one part of the film where they told me, “You didn’t say anything at all during that, Nina is chatting away during her parts”.
‘I said, “That’s because if I get that bit wrong, the whole movie doesn’t happen!”
‘I ignored the fact that they were there and hyperfocused. It just led to a slightly different atmosphere, but I think I’m quite lucky because I’m used to having people watch me at work because I teach and train and mentor people. But a film crew saying, “Stop, we can’t see that! Try a different angle!”, is a different level of that.’
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