Facial midline
The line down the centre of your face. The gap between the two front teeth should sit on it, or close enough that the eye reads it as straight.
Plan before you prepare
Digital Smile Design in Dubai
Your new smile is designed against your face, then tried in your own mouth as a temporary mock-up — so you judge the result before anything irreversible happens.
- Physical mock-up before preparation
- Design shared with the laboratory
- Intraoral 3D scanning
Design comes after examination. Teeth and gums are checked first, because a smile cannot be designed on problems that still need treating.
See it, then decideThe mock-up is worn in your mouth before any preparation.
Quick answer
What is digital smile design?
Digital smile design (DSD) is a planning process in which your dentist uses facial photographs and a 3D scan of your teeth to design new tooth shapes that fit your face, lips and gums. The design is then made into a temporary mock-up you wear in your mouth. At Creative Arts it is used to plan veneers, crowns and Hollywood Smile cases before any tooth is prepared.
27 yearsIn-house dental laboratory in the same building
Written planItemised treatment plan before you commit
Open daily10:00–20:00, seven days a week
Jumeirah 3614 Jumeira St, Umm Suqeim 1, Dubai
What is measured
What does a smile design actually measure?
A good design starts from your face, not from a catalogue of tooth shapes. These are the reference points it is built on.
Lip line and edge position
How much tooth shows with your lips at rest, when you talk and when you smile fully. This sets the length of the front teeth more than any rule of proportion.
Tooth proportions
Width against length for each tooth, and how the front six step back in size from the centre. Teeth that are all the same width look artificial.
Gum line
The height and symmetry of the gum around each tooth. Where it is uneven, laser gum contouring may be planned alongside the teeth.
Bite
How the upper and lower teeth meet and slide. Edges designed without checking the bite are the ones that chip.
The process
From photographs to a smile you can try on
Each stage produces something you can see and comment on. Nothing irreversible happens until you have approved the mock-up.
Photographs and scan
A set of facial and close-up photographs, plus an intraoral 3D scan of both arches in place of impression trays.
Records2D design on your face
Proposed outlines are drawn over your photographs to set midline, edge position and proportions. This is where you say "longer", "softer", "less white".
Design3D design on your teeth
The agreed 2D plan is built onto the 3D scan, tooth by tooth, checking thickness and the bite.
DesignPrinted model
The 3D design is printed as a model, from which a guide for the mock-up is made.
LaboratoryMock-up in your mouth
Temporary tooth-coloured material is placed over your teeth using the guide. You can look, talk, smile and take photos at home before deciding.
Try-inRefine and approve
Changes are made to the design if needed, and the final version becomes the brief for preparation and the laboratory.
Approval
From dentist to dental lab
How the design becomes the ceramic
The approved design is not a picture that gets reinterpreted later; it is the file the laboratory works from. Creative Art Dental Lab, in the same building as the clinic in Jumeirah, Dubai, designs and mills the ceramic to it, then hand-finishes shade and surface. Because the technician can see your teeth in person, details that photographs flatten — edge translucency, warmth near the gum — are judged on you.
- 1Consultation & records — examination, photographs and the radiographs your case needs
- 2Digital scan — an intraoral scan replaces impression trays for most cases
- 3Design — the restoration or smile is designed digitally and reviewed with you
- 4Lab fabrication — milled from ceramic, then hand-finished for shade and texture
- 5Try-in — shade, shape and fit checked in your mouth, adjusted in-house if needed
- 6Placement & review — bonded or cemented, bite balanced, reviewed afterwards
Who turns the smile design into ceramic?
The design your dentist shows you is turned into ceramic at Creative Art Dental Lab, part of Creative Art Group. The group’s CEO, Basem Tobaji, is a dental technician and smile design expert with about 30 years in the dental field; his profile explains how facial proportions, shade and texture are worked into the design.
Who it is for
Which treatments is smile design used for?
Any treatment that changes how the front teeth look benefits from being designed first. Some smaller treatments do not need it.
Usually designed first
- Porcelain veneers on several front teeth
- A Hollywood Smile or full smile makeover
- Front crowns, especially next to natural teeth
- Gum contouring combined with veneers or crowns
- Orthodontics followed by restorative work, planned together from the start
- Full mouth rehabilitation
Often not needed
- Whitening alone, where the tooth shape is not changing
- A single small chip repaired with bonding
- Routine fillings on back teeth
Limits
What digital smile design can't do
It is a plan, not a promise of an outcome. A design on a screen can show tooth shapes that your teeth, gums or bite cannot actually support, which is why it is always checked against the scan and then against the mock-up in your mouth.
- It cannot move teeth. If teeth are crowded or rotated, the design may show that orthodontics first would need fewer veneers and less preparation.
- It cannot fix gum or bite problems — it can only reveal them so they are treated first.
- The final ceramic will differ slightly from the mock-up, which is made from temporary material and has a different surface and translucency.
- Your own judgement still matters. The mock-up is there so you can live with the design for a while before agreeing to it.
Real cases
Smile makeovers treated at Creative Arts
Unretouched before-and-after photographs of patients treated at the clinic. Veneer cases here are designed and mocked up before preparation.
Individual results vary. Photographs are shown with patient consent.
Who treats you
Dentists who design and carry out smile makeovers
At Creative Arts in Dubai, the dentist who designs your smile is the one who prepares and fits it, working with the technician from the first design.
Patient questions
Frequently asked questions
Can I see my new smile before treatment?
Yes. After the digital design is agreed, it is transferred into a temporary mock-up placed over your own teeth. You can see it in the mirror, talk and smile with it, and photograph it before deciding. Nothing is prepared until you are happy with the design, and changes are made at this stage rather than after.
Is digital smile design the same as a smile simulation app?
No. Apps edit a photo to show whiter, straighter teeth, but they do not account for your bite, gum line, tooth thickness or what your teeth can support. A clinical smile design is built on a 3D scan and checked in your mouth with a mock-up, so it reflects what can actually be made.
Does the mock-up damage my teeth?
No. The mock-up is made of temporary material placed over your unprepared teeth and removed afterwards. Nothing is drilled to fit it. It is the last point at which you can change your mind with no effect on your teeth.
How long does the smile design process take?
Records are usually taken at the first or second visit. The design and mock-up stage typically takes one or more further appointments, depending on how many changes you want and whether gum or orthodontic treatment needs to come first. It is time spent before the irreversible step, not added to it.
Is smile design included in a veneer plan?
For veneer and Hollywood Smile cases, design and mock-up are part of the written plan rather than an optional extra, because they guide both the preparation and the ceramic. Our veneers cost guide explains what a written plan sets out and how to compare it with other quotes.
Will the final veneers look exactly like the mock-up?
They will follow the same shape, length and proportions, which is the point of the design. The surface and translucency will look better, because the final ceramic is layered and glazed in the laboratory while the mock-up is made from temporary resin.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
VeneersDental veneers in DubaiThe treatment most smile designs lead to.Smile makeoverHollywood SmileWhole-smile plans built from a single design.GumsLaser gum contouringEvening the gum line as part of the design.LaboratoryDigital dentistryScanning, CAD design, milling and 3D printing.GuideWhy a lab in the same building mattersWhat changes when the technician sees you.GuideHow veneers and crowns are madeInside the dental laboratory, step by step.Dental labCreative Art Dental LabThe laboratory in the same building as the clinic.
Book a consultation
Request a consultation
Tell us what you would like to change. The clinic replies within working hours with an appointment time.
- Address614 Jumeira St, Jumeirah 3, Umm Suqeim 1, Dubai
- Opening hoursClinic open daily, 10:00–20:00
- Phone+971 4 342 4444 · WhatsApp +971 56 677 7537
Book Your Consultation
Or call us +971 4 342 4444Or message us on WhatsApp
Talk to a dentist about your case
A consultation ends with a diagnosis and a written, itemised plan — not a sales pitch. Book online, message us on WhatsApp, or call the clinic.