Perio for improved smile aesthetics is topic of next Perio Talks

The next EFP Perio Talks session will take place at 19.00 (CET) on Thursday July 1 and will focus on the role of periodontal therapy in improving smile aesthetics.

Virginie Monnet-Corti (France) will discuss “Perio for a more beautiful smile” with Natasha Lioubavina (Netherlands) in this Perio Talks session on the EFP’s Instagram page (@perioeurope).

The live session will feature a dialogue between the two presenters on the diagnostics, risk factors, and possible treatments in the aesthetic zone of the mouth. They will then respond to questions from participants.  

“The smile is one of the important parameters of our face, our health, and our psychological well-being, a parameter of our joy, confidence, and kindness,” said Dr Lioubavina. “In the modern digital world of selfies and Instagram photos, a perfect smile image has become almost mandatory for many people and not only professional models, bloggers, and teenagers. Adult patients are searching for help and are sometimes demanding a complex treatment to obtain that perfect smile.”

Prof Monnet-Corti will discuss the risks of starting aesthetic procedures in an infected periodontium and the importance of first treating periodontitis before starting on the aesthetic work. She will discuss the diagnostic protocol she has developed and the use of the smile aesthetic index in treatment planning. These tools take into account factors including the depth and type of gum recession, the height of keratinised gingiva, gingival thickness, and the filling of interproximal spaces.

“The estimation of gingival thickness is very important, as thin gingiva and a thin phenotype are strongly associated with further loss of tissue at the recession site,” she noted.

Other topics addressed in this Perio Talks session will include mucogingival surgery and how long to wait after performing it before beginning restorative dentistry using veneers and crowns, the use of connective-tissue grafts, and the role of orthodontics in the development and treatment of gingival recessions.

“Marginal bone loss and bone dehiscence is predisposing factor for gingival recessions,” said Monnet-Corti. “Orthodontic tooth movement out of bone envelope increases the risk of recessions, while the tooth movement back into the bony envelope can decrease and, in some cases, eliminate gingival recessions.”

The Perio Talks sessions are open to everyone and the EFP recommends following the federation on Instagram (@perioeurope) to be able to access them and to be informed of future sessions.