A Smile is Born: a multidisciplinary case from scan to crown

A Smile is Born: a multidisciplinary case from scan to crown

Last year, Dentsply Sirona hosted the world premiere of A Smile is Born. We hear about the story and how a digital workflow leads to better patient outcomes.

A Smile is Born is a feature-length documentary film following the personal story of Luke, a real-life patient who had been putting off the dental treatment he knew he desperately needed for nine years.

When Luke finally reached out for help to overcome the issues with his bite, teeth positioning and an infected failed tooth, he found himself the star of ground-breaking orthodontic and implant treatment in an advanced digital workflow that would change his life forever.

Now on general release, A Smile is Born shines a spotlight on the work of specialist orthodontist, Dr Nina Shaffie, and implant surgeon, Dr Martin Wanendeya, during Luke’s seven months of treatment and the key decisions made to reach a successful outcome.

The film acts as a showcase, not just for Dentsply Sirona’s digital technology, but also how a digital workflow can enable successful collaboration between clinicians and technicians to create better patient outcomes.

The treatment journey

Luke underwent clear aligner orthodontic treatment with Nina using SureSmile Clear Aligners from Dentsply Sirona, with a treatment plan that also encompassed composite bonding and whitening.

With Luke’s SureSmile clear aligner treatment underway, Martin extracted his fractured upper left first premolar, successfully removed the underlying chronic infection and performed an immediate placement of a DS PrimeTaper implant.

A temporary custom-made abutment was fitted to give Luke the appearance of a tooth in order for him to finish his SureSmile Clear Aligner treatment. The implant was finally restored with a patient-specific crown from Nexus Dental Lab on an Atlantis abutment, bringing optimal function and superb aesthetics to finish a remarkable case.

One connection

The DS PrimeTaper implant has a fully tapered and progressive thread design that enables the implant to quickly cut and engage with the bone, offering high primary stability, immediate function and shorter procedure times.

Each DS PrimeTaper implant is compatible with the full EV prosthetic range, including patient-specific Atlantis abutments which feature a direct one-position-only placement.

Simple drilling protocols make working with PrimeTaper EV straightforward and time-saving with fast, efficient and aesthetic immediate load options for both single and multiple implant cases. Because it is a tapered implant, it can still work in compromised bone, providing excellent primary stability with the bone that is available.

The grand finale

What made Luke’s smile transformation more remarkable was the fact it was achieved in only seven months, emphasising how much difference a strong collaboration between clinicians and technicians using digital orthodontic and implant workflows can achieve.

Thanks to the seamless integration through DS Core, the cloud based platform that connects clinicians with their teams, patients, equipment and services – and despite never meeting in person during Luke’s treatment – Nina and Martin were able to solve the complications and intricacies of his case in what seemed an impossibly tight patient-imposed deadline.

Luke’s reaction to seeing his teeth following completion of his treatment is a stand-out moment of A Smile is Born. His incredulous delight when he saw his new smile was the joyful conclusion that made every step of this extraordinary journey worthwhile.


To find out more about the Dentsply Sirona EV implant family, please visit dentsplysirona.com/implants.

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