Shade in more than one light
Look in the clinic light and near a window. Ask to see a photograph; cameras show differences the mirror hides.
From scan to try-in
How a Hollywood Smile Is Made in the Lab
A Hollywood Smile is not ten single crowns made side by side. It is one design for a whole arch, approved in your mouth first, then milled, layered and finished in our laboratory in Dubai.
- Made at Creative Art Dental Lab
- Mock-up before any preparation
- Try-in adjustments in the same building
The first visit is an examination and records. Nothing is prepared until you have approved a mock-up.
Quick answer
How is a Hollywood Smile made in the lab?
A Hollywood Smile is made in stages. Your teeth are scanned and photographed, the whole smile is designed digitally and tried in your mouth as a mock-up, and only after you approve it are the teeth prepared and scanned again. The laboratory then designs each unit, mills it from E.max or zirconia, and layers or stains and glazes it by hand. At Creative Arts in Dubai this happens at Creative Art Dental Lab, in the same building as the clinic.
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
At a glance
Hollywood Smile production in brief
- What is made
- Coordinated veneers and/or crowns for the teeth that show when you smile, usually the upper arch and often the lower
- Who makes it
- Creative Art Dental Lab, a separate laboratory in the same building as the clinic at 614 Jumeira St, Jumeirah 3
- Materials
- Lithium disilicate (E.max), monolithic or layered zirconia, feldspathic porcelain — chosen tooth by tooth
- Approved before preparation
- A digital design and a mock-up worn over your own teeth
- Typical lab time
- Typically 3–5 working days per stage, depending on complexity; your dentist gives the full timeline in the written plan
- At the try-in
- Small adjustments can often be made the same day; the ceramic itself is never made the same day
- Shade
- Photographs with shade tabs, and for clinic patients the ceramist can see your teeth in person under the same light as the dentist
The sequence
From scan to fitted smile: how a Hollywood Smile moves between clinic and lab
Every case follows the same order; the number of visits depends on the number of teeth and any preparatory treatment.
Records
Intraoral scans of both arches and your bite, face and smile photographs, a short video of you talking and smiling, and shade photographs. The lab designs from these, so gaps here show up later as guesswork.
ClinicWhole-arch design and mock-up
The smile is designed digitally against your face. The design is 3D-printed as a model, transferred over your unprepared teeth in tooth-coloured material, and reviewed with you. Changes go back into the design before anything is approved.
Lab + clinicPreparation and final scan
Teeth are prepared only where the approved design needs room, then scanned with a bite record. Temporaries copy the approved shape, and anything you notice while wearing them, such as edge length when speaking, is passed to the lab.
ClinicDesign, milling and firing
Each unit is designed on the scan of the prepared teeth, using the approved mock-up as the blueprint, then milled from a ceramic block. Lithium disilicate is fired to reach full strength; zirconia is sintered and shrinks to its final size.
LabLayering, staining and glazing
The ceramist adds colour depth, edge translucency and surface texture, then glazes. The whole arch is checked together on a 3D-printed model for contacts, margins and symmetry.
LabTry-in, fitting and review
Shade, shape, speech and bite are checked in your mouth before anything is bonded. Small corrections can often be made the same day because the lab is in the building. A review appointment follows.
Clinic
Design
Why a Hollywood Smile is designed as one arch, not tooth by tooth
A single crown copies the teeth next to it. A full smile has no natural neighbours to copy, so the laboratory has to set every reference point itself, working from your photographs and your dentist's prescription:
- Midline: the gap between the two front teeth is set vertical to your face, even if your old midline was not.
- Edge line: the biting edges of the upper teeth usually follow the curve of the lower lip when you smile.
- Proportion: the front teeth are the widest in view; the width appears to step down towards the canines, which keeps the smile from looking like a flat row.
- How many teeth: the design covers every tooth visible in your widest smile, which is why a Hollywood Smile plan counts teeth from photographs, not from a package.
Read how proportions are chosen in digital smile design, and how the design is tested in your mouth in wax-up and mock-up.
Materials in production
E.max or zirconia across a whole smile: how production differs
Your dentist chooses the material for each tooth after the examination. These are the practical differences in the lab.
| Lithium disilicate (E.max) | Monolithic zirconia | Layered zirconia | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it is shaped | Milled from a block in a softer state | Milled oversized from a chalky pre-sintered block | Core milled as for monolithic zirconia |
| Strengthening step | Fired to reach full strength | Sintered; shrinks to final size | Sintered, then porcelain fired onto the visible surfaces |
| How colour is added | Stains and glaze, or a cut-back with layered porcelain | Stains and glaze on a shaded block | Hand-layered porcelain over the core |
| Usually chosen for | Front teeth where translucency matters most | Back teeth, heavy bites, grinding | Front teeth that need masking or extra strength |
| At the try-in | Small shape changes, then re-polish or re-glaze | Small shape changes, then careful polishing | Small changes; porcelain is re-glazed |
Many Hollywood Smiles combine materials tooth by tooth. See zirconia Hollywood Smile and crowns or veneers for a Hollywood Smile.
The hand stage
Layering, staining and glazing a bright smile without making it flat
Most Hollywood Smiles are lighter than the natural teeth. The brighter the shade, the more finishing matters: a very white surface with no variation reads as one block from across a room.
- Gradient: slightly warmer near the gum, lighter through the body, a touch of translucency at the edge.
- Texture: fine horizontal and vertical surface detail scatters light the way enamel does.
- Line angles: the ridges at the corners of each front tooth control how wide it looks in photographs.
- Glaze: the final firing seals the surface so it resists staining.
How much of this is layered by hand and how much is stained depends on the material; see hand-layered ceramics. Shade choice for a full smile is explained in choosing a tooth shade.
Quality check
What the model shows that the screen does not
Before a Hollywood Smile leaves the lab, the whole arch is seated on a 3D-printed model of your prepared teeth and judged as one piece. Problems invisible unit by unit become obvious:
- a tooth a fraction longer than its partner on the other side;
- contacts too tight to seat or too open to keep food out;
- margins that do not meet the prepared edge cleanly;
- one surface smoother than the rest, so it reflects light differently.
Models are printed in-house; see 3D printing in the dental lab.
Your part
What you check at a Hollywood Smile try-in
The last point at which shape and shade can be changed easily.
Edge length when you talk
Say words with F and V sounds. The upper edges should touch the inside of the lower lip lightly, not press into it.
The smile line
In a relaxed full smile the edges should follow your lower lip, with no tooth standing out as longer or shorter.
Bite and comfort
Close together and slide side to side. Anything that catches is adjusted before bonding, not after.
Who does what in a Hollywood Smile
Your dentist examines, plans, prepares and fits the teeth and makes the clinical decisions. The laboratory designs and makes the ceramic to the dentist's prescription. You approve the design at the mock-up and the result at the try-in. A case passes through several people, so no single person is credited with it. See also how veneers and crowns are made.
Who treats you
Dentists who plan and fit Hollywood Smile cases
They examine, design with the lab, prepare the teeth and fit the finished work.
For the dentist’s side of the same process, read about Dr. Kinan Bonni and dental ceramics: how material and shade are chosen with the ceramists for each case.
Patient questions
Frequently asked questions
How long does the lab take to make a Hollywood Smile?
Each lab stage typically takes 3 to 5 working days, depending on complexity. A Hollywood Smile has more than one stage — the design and mock-up, then the final ceramic after preparation — and preparatory treatment such as gum or filling work adds time. Your dentist sets out the visits and expected timeline in your written plan.
Is a Hollywood Smile made by hand or by machine?
Both. The shape is designed digitally and milled by machine, which gives accurate fit and repeatable thickness. Colour depth, edge translucency, surface texture and glaze are added by hand by the ceramist. How much is layered by hand depends on the material chosen for each tooth.
Can I change my Hollywood Smile design after the mock-up?
Yes, that is the purpose of the mock-up. Length, edge shape and the look of tooth width can be changed in the design and tried again before preparation. After the teeth are prepared, smaller changes are still possible at the temporary and try-in stages, but large changes in direction are much harder.
Why does the lab need photos and a video for a Hollywood Smile?
A scan shows the teeth but not your face. The lab needs to see your lip line, how much tooth shows when you talk and smile, and where your facial midline is. Without them, a Hollywood Smile can fit perfectly and still look wrong for your face.
Can a Hollywood Smile be made in one day?
No. The ceramic for a Hollywood Smile is not made the same day at Creative Arts: design, mock-up approval, preparation, milling, firing and hand finishing each take time. What can often happen the same day, because the lab is in the building, is a small adjustment at the try-in.
Are the upper and lower teeth of a Hollywood Smile made together?
When both arches are treated, they are designed together so the bite, edge line and shade relate to each other. Whether they are prepared and fitted in the same visits depends on the case. Some patients treat only the upper arch and whiten the lower teeth.
What happens if a Hollywood Smile unit does not look right at the try-in?
It is not bonded. Small shape or surface changes can often be made the same day in the lab and checked again. If a unit needs remaking, for example for shade, it goes back into production — which is why the try-in comes before bonding.
Keep exploring
Related treatments
TreatmentHollywood Smile in DubaiCandidacy, materials, visits and what the plan includes.LaboratoryCreative Art Dental LabThe laboratory in the same building as the clinic.LaboratoryWax-up and mock-upHow the design is tested in your mouth before preparation.GuideZirconia Hollywood SmileWhen zirconia is chosen for a full smile.LaboratoryHand-layered ceramicsHow translucency and texture are built in.GuideHow veneers and crowns are madeThe dentist-to-lab chain for single units.
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- Address614 Jumeira St, Jumeirah 3, Umm Suqeim 1, Dubai
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