Smile Design Starts With Listening to You

Transcript accompanies the approved October 15, 2026 edition.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned after more than 15 years of cosmetic dentistry is that beautiful dentistry isn't about what I think looks beautiful. When I first started practicing, I thought the goal was to recreate nature as perfectly as possible. And while I still love that philosophy, I've learned that every patient has their own vision of what beautiful looks like. My role isn't to impose my preferences on a patient. My role is to listen. I often tell patients that I'm really the intermediary between them and my lab. The quality of my communication has to be impeccable because I'm responsible for translating a patient's goals into a final result. Sometimes patients know exactly what they want, sometimes they don't. Part of my responsibility is helping them discover that vision while making sure they're creating something that fits their face, their personality, and their goals. There's also a tremendous amount of trust involved. Patients allow me to alter something they see every day when they look in the mirror. I never take that trust for granted. The most rewarding cases aren't necessarily the most complex cases. They're the cases where the patient feels seen, heard, and understood. And the final result reflects exactly what they hope for.