Michelangelo took four years to paint the Sistine Chapel and two years to complete the sculpture of David.
Masterpieces take time, which is a luxury most dentists aren't typically afforded. Creating art within the real-world constraints of a dentist's schedule is a daunting task—but tools exist that can turn Joe Schmo into a Renaissance savant.
"I don't want to be recognized as an artist, because I want this to be reproducible," says restorative wizard, Dr. Rafael Beolchi. "If you don't have any method, or as I call them, parameters […] then you're wandering around in the dark. You're trying and trying and trying… but blindly."
The Uveneer® template system is the dentistry equivalent of tracing paper. It guides clinicians through the "dark" toward consistent, predictable, symmetrical direct composite veneers, mock-ups, temporaries, and more. The Uveneer® Extra template system supplements the Uveneer templates family, giving clinicians the ability to provide a more natural contoured anatomy to their composite restorations.
Uveneer Extra templates provide predictable, beautiful, and natural results through innovative designs.
The Tried and True Method Behind the Art of Veneers
I was recently chatting with one of Ultradent Products’ in-house designers about a series of pieces he's working on in his spare time. His specialty is airbrush work and I had a lightbulb moment as he was walking me through his process—he doesn't freehand his work, he cuts out a series of templates to layer together, then airbrushes the white space step after step until the work is completed.
A similar concept came up in a recent conversation I had with Dr. Beolchi. "I can practice the 'art' but I don't want to rely on that," he says. "That's why I like creating methods and parameters, so I can guard myself; because it's not every day I wake up feeling like a Leonardo Da Vinci or a Michelangelo."
Dr. Beolchi sees these parameters in some of history's most iconic art. "I remember the first time I went to see [Michelangelo's] famous sculpture of David in Florence. There's two of them, there's a replica in the city square and the original is in the museum. The original is mind blowing […] you can see his method. There's a lot of art there, but there's way more method than just art."
Utilizing the Uveneer Extra templates connects these parameters to the art of creating minimally invasive direct composite veneers.
Consistently Creating Quality
Patients count on clinicians to produce predictable work. Online reviews and word of mouth are the kings of dental industry marketing. Choosing a dentist based on reviews or recommendations means the patient has certain expectations of quality toward the dentist's work.
Uveneer Extra templates take the guesswork out of this consistency.
Uveneer Extra templates complement the original Uveneer templates while providing four new upper anterior designs: Extra Large, Large, Medium, and Square.
"I don't want my patients to rely on my artistic [abilities] because what happens if they fail me?" says Beolchi. "As in, if it's a day I'm not feeling good or I've received bad news […] I don't want to rely on myself as an artist."
Having consistent, high quality work walking out of your office is the first step to securing high quality reviews. With the rise of social media, it's also imperative to remember that clinicians aren't just creating veneers for a patient's real world life. Their smile is also important to their digital life. Not only that, a smiling Instagram post showcasing new veneers can have exponential return for a practice. Sometimes all it takes is just that one post to unlock an entire new audience of potential patients—and that new audience will be expecting the dentist to recreate the quality they saw in the post.
Time and Money—The Cost Savings of the Uveneer System
There's a massive shortage plaguing the dental industry—time. There's never enough and clinicians continually wring their calendars to extract more.
"[Dentists] have to follow a schedule. I have probably what, an hour? An hour and half? Sometimes thirty minutes to accomplish something," says Dr. Beolchi. "So being held by method feels safer to […] develop your artistic sense."
The Uveneer template system unlocks extra time and saves money when you're working with direct composite veneers. All Uveneer templates work with any preferred composite to facilitate a beautiful tooth shape on individual or multiple teeth. While the Uveneer system has templates for upper and lower anterior teeth, the Uveneer Extra system offers additional designs for the upper anterior teeth. They're modeled from real tooth anatomy, eliminating the potential for errors that can extend a procedure and destroy the day's schedule. The Uveneer Extra templates require minimal adjusting or polishing, also saving ample time.
In Their Words—Dentists Review the Uveneer Templates System
Clinicians across the globe count on the Uveneer template systems to create top-tier composite restorations and the benefits of this system are spreading:
"In a single day I was able to do 11 mock-up veneers that were not part of the original schedule, resulting in several new cases being accepted. I wouldn't want to work without them now." — Dr. Chad Wagener, DDS.
"Terrific tool to quickly and easily create beautiful anterior restorations." — Dr. Gary M. Radz, DDS
The Uveneer Extra template system mimics real tooth anatomy for authentic, natural results.
"The simplicity of Uveneer is absolutely remarkable. Why didn't I think of this?" —Dr. John C. Comisi, DDS, MAGD.
"Uveneer makes the practice of the anterior esthetic dentistry easier, faster, and better." —Dr. George Freedman, DDS.
Beauty Through Predictability
Some people are born artists, some are natural scientists. Some are neither and have to work tirelessly to develop skills on both sides of the brain. "I wasn't born a dentist. When I was born I didn't even know how to tie my shoes, but now I do. And that's definitely more complicated than fixing a tooth, but I have 40 years of experience learning how to do that," Beolchi chuckles. "Some people might need more effort in order to accomplish something […] by having method and by training, we get there, and by getting there, we feel secure enough to develop those artistic feelings."
The Uveneer and Uveneer Extra template systems allow clinicians to create consistent, schedule-friendly, natural-looking veneers—and they'll turn you into the Michelangelo of composite restorations.