“Well every filling, veneer, every tooth build-up, every smile make-over we do is beautiful, its sculpted and crafted to look white, healthy and natural, so it is Cosmetic dentistry, or Aesthetic Dentistry. But its more than that. If a filling in the back of your mouth functions well, and also looks beautiful, does it still count as cosmetic if no one sees it?

The process we follow in diagnosing is more than just looking at cosmetics. We want your beautiful veneers and crowns to last. We want it to work in your specific mouth, with your smile, your face, with the way you chew and talk. Then it becomes much more than just cosmetic dentistry, it is treating to natures original intent. And that is always beautiful.”

I really enjoy treating patients where we need more than just one tooth restored, smile-enhancing treatments and full mouth treatments. I love using technology to give these patients the best possible results. We see patients with worn away front teeth due to grinding, or broken back teeth due to large old fillings. In these cases we have to diagnose and plan properly before doing any treatment. Often times these people have a history of a filling or crown being redone several times by different dentists without success, and need a solution that will last. Digital x-rays, 3D intra-oral scanning, 3D conebeam scanning, digital smile design, photography and computerised dentistry all form part of the process. We also work in a team when we do these large cases, and after proper diagnosis and planning, we can do treatments that involve implants, gum treatments, crowns, veneers and sometimes even orthodontics treatment.

We are very fortunate to have a team of specialists that we work with in our practice. It is very clear to us that our patients need to have a proper diagnosis and planning before anything can be done, and that the success of the treatment truly relies heavily on the planning phase. In our practice we work with Periodontists, Orthodontists and Restorative Dentists. We have a team meeting every week to discuss our patients, and have treatment discussions with our patients before doing any treatment. In this way we work through all the treatment options, and also time frames and costs before we start. Being part of this team has made all the difference in giving our patients options in treatment plans, and having all the experts under one roof.

In 2018 Dr Smith co-founded the Bridge Program. This is a program where we teach young dentists the foundations of private practice dentistry after graduating. There is a large need in the dental community for mentorship and guidance, and with the Bridge Program we have successfully had 3 groups of dentists from all over Africa go through the program. We believe in giving back to dentistry, and teaching our new generation of dentists.

Corne also lectures on several topics in dentistry in South Africa, and keeps up with the latest technology and techniques to be able to teach.