Dental Technician or Artist?

Ian Smith is one of a mere handful of Master Ceramists in the UK , he uses an artist’s palette and small brushes to perfect shade and colour and there is no doubt that he is absolutely passionate about his art – as a leading dental technician.

It is that combination of artistry and science that makes the work of a dental technician so unusual and challenging.

Ian will be addressing the Technician’s Conference at the Dentistry Show but believes the subject is of great interest not just to fellow technicians and laboratory staff  but also to dentists and other members of the dental team. His presentation will be based on one of his own aesthetically demanding case’s in which a single central implant crown was made perfect, despite a high lip line by using the patient’s own extracted tooth and Ivoclar’s IPS e.max – or lithium disilicate which Ian says is ideal for accurately replicating the natural dentition, “ Lithium disilicate is my preferred material of choice. It’s all ceramic and is a far more aesthetic and predictable material than Zirconia. It’s actually unlike any other material I’ve ever used and is a huge help in providing that favourite feature of dentists – predictability!’

The practice of using the patient’s own extracted tooth to fabricate a customised e.max abutment is extremely rare but one that Ian believes has many benefits;
“ When a tooth is extracted in order to make space for implants, the soft tissue collapses around where the root was. The root is a natural shape and is organic so can be used to create the exact abutment shape which of course, means that all the tissue around that tooth is supported as naturally as it would have been before the extraction.”

In the majority of cases, a patient will never meet the technician who is creating their new smile  - indeed they may not even know where their new smile is made, but at the Visage Dental Clinic and Laboratory in Glasgow, Ian is involved from the initial consultation and thereafter as he explains;  “ At every single appointment I’m there with the doctor so it is a joint consultation. I’ll take photos and talk to the patient, get a general idea of what they want which you can’t really do without meeting them in person. Then there’ll be further appointments to try out the teeth I’ve designed, and the all important bisque stage with the unglazed ceramics when I’ll do the finishing touches in the patient’s mouth with my stains palette and brushes before the teeth are fired in the furnace. It’s at this stage we can paint Mickey Mouse on someone’s tooth if they so wish it and yes, I have done the odd tooth tattoo but it’s usually been football related! ”

Ian graduated from Edinburgh in 1996 with multiple merit awards in Dental Technology and has since gained a peerless reputation based on his meticulous attention to detail and ability to create the most lifelike restorations. He is sought after as a speaker and is Scotland’s opinion leader for Ivoclar Vivadent.

He is driven by a passion for his work and the pursuit of perfection that means studying morphology and anatomy to ensure that surface texture mimics nature accurately; “If you don’t get the surface anatomy and lustre correct, then even perfect shading and colour matching will stand out like a sore thumb.”

To create the perfect colour match means recognising that inside every natural tooth there can be a minimum of four colours or shades, and usually many more. In patients whose teeth have been whitened, there are added complexities in which case Ian recommends a considerable time gap between whitening and shade matching to allow for the extreme variations in colour in dehydrated and rehydrated teeth.  He gives an example of a patient whose overnight mouth breathing and consequent dehydration meant her laser whitened teeth were a completely different colour between morning and afternoon appointments.

There is no doubt that anyone attending Ian’s session at the Dentistry Show is likely to not only learn a great deal from a master of his craft but will also be infected by his enthusiasm and may well come away asking whether Dental Technician is an adequate description for an artist.