CDEN0109

I 03 editorial _ cosmetic dentistry I cosmeticdentistry 1_2009 Dr Sushil Koirala Editor-in-Chief _Welcome to this year’s first edition of cosmeticdentistry! 2008wasaverysuccessfulyear, aswewereabletoexpandourprofessionalnetworkwithvariousaestheticinstitutionsandindivid- uals. I would hereby like to express my sincere gratitude to all editorial board members, advisors, authors,andinstitutionsfortheirprofessionalsupportandguidance.Wearealsomuchobligedto allourvaluedreadersforacceptingthisnewpublication. DuringmyrecentvisitstoJapan,India,andThailand,workshopsandlectureswereorganisedin collaborationwithmanyaestheticdentists,bothnewandwellestablished.Iwaspleasedtonotethat most professionals are quite serious about the various ethical concerns of cosmetic dentistry. Irrespective of geographic and cultural differences, all of us face the same practical difficulties in differentiatingbetweenneed-anddesire-basedtreatments.Cosmeticdentaltreatmentisgenerally related to the personal desires of a patient and may not necessarily improve health or function of the oral tissues. Therefore, dentists have an ethical responsibility to educate their patients about realisticgoalsandappropriatetreatmentoptions. Patient psychology, health, function, and aesthetics are the four fundamental components of comprehensiveaestheticdentistrythatneedtobeadequatelyaddressedduringsmile-designpro- cedures. I differentiate three different grades of aesthetic dentistry, which can be summarised as follows: Grade I (preventive) helps to prevent or intercept diseases, habits, and other factors that may adversely affect the existing or future smile aesthetics; Grade II (mimetic) helps to restore or mimicthenaturalaesthetic,withemphasisonhealthandfunction;andGrade III(cosmetic)helps toenhanceorsupplementtheaestheticcomponent,whichmaynotbeinharmonywiththepatients sex,race,orageandnotnecessarilybebeneficialforthehealthorfunctionoftheoraltissues. Personally,Ifeelthatapatient’scosmeticdesiresaloneshouldnotbetherationaleforcosmetic treatment. The most critical aspect of cosmetic treatment is indeed the treatment’s benefit for the health or function of the oral tissues. During any aesthetic treatment where healthy oral tissue is being treated with no direct benefit to health or function, the treatment modalities mustberestrictedtonon-invasiveorminimally-invasiveprocedures.Donoharm! shouldalwaysbethecredopertinenttoalldentaltreatmentprocedures. In this issue of cosmeticdentistry, we have tried to incorporate various clinicalcasesthataremostlyrelatedtonatural,cosmeticdesiresofpatients who are treated exclusively with non-invasive to minimally-invasive procedures.Ihopeyouwillenjoythisissueofcosmeticdentistryandam eagerlyawaitingyourcommentsandcontributions! Dear Reader, Sincerely, DrSushilKoirala