Insights From an Educator Who is Both a Dentist and a Ceramist

Christian Coachman, DDS

  Christian Coachman, DDS, continues to inspire many people in our profession. In this interview, find out what inspires him, what he believes is the most difficult thing in restorative dentistry, and what he thinks will affect the future of dentistry.

 

Adapted from the full interview, which was published in AACD’s Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry, Winter 2012 issue. For more information, visit www.aacd.com.

  ©2012-2014 American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, All Rights Reserved

©2014 Images Christian Coachman, DDS, All Rights Reserved

Who and what inspires your work and daily life to achieve great “natural esthetics” like you do?

A: It is most important to have good mentors, teachers, and models to follow. Create a good relationship with them, showing motivation, respect, and humility.

The other important inspiration comes from the patient, treating them like a human being will help you give them a better smile. Dr. Coachman with Willi Geller, one of his

mentors and sources of inspiration.

In your opinion, what are the major drawbacks of both the metal-based and the metal-free approaches and how do you

work around them in the cases that you do?

A: Metal-free restorations are the future, although some issues need to be resolved. I do some metal-ceramic restorations, mainly on implant screw-retained restorations. When creating single units and small anterior bridges, my choice is always metal-free restorations.

Metal-free restorations showing ideal light transmission.

What recommendations do you have to help minimize errors and achieve the highest percentage of success in fabricating multiple

and single units ceramic with pleasing form and color?

A: On a single unit the challenge is the color; on a full upper case the challenges are shape and design…A great ceramist has a tri-dimensional vision of the smile. Along with creativity, intuition, and hands-on skills to work with shapes and arrangements becoming a “smile designer.” As a ceramist, I invest much more time in designing a smile that fits the patient’s facial features and emotions.

Full upper restored with ceramic veneers. On these cases, the main challenge is to create ideal tooth shape and smile design.

Single-unit ceramic restoration with its specific challenges of matching color and texture.

You achieve amazing esthetic results even when working with counterparts around the world. Can you share the communication

protocols and tools you utilize to get these results?

A: I had to develop protocols and digital communication became the answer. Utilizing software that can hold patients’ images, videos, notes, x-rays, and includes the ability to draw lines to better understand the esthetic issues and visualize the treatment options to share. The key is to have the ability to communicate visually with all team members.

A Digital Smile Design protocol helps with the esthetic planning process and with long-distance team communication.

What do you feel are some of the most innovative and new options for dealing with ridge deformities and lost dimensions?

A: For patients who are really looking for an esthetic solution and for whom more surgery is no longer the best option, we have been utilizing artificial pink materials to replace the missing soft tissue. Developing a technique that combines pink ceramics with direct pink composite to help me blend in these types of restorations.

The pink hybrid restoration is a good alternative for very challenging ridge defect cases inside the esthetic zone.

To read this interview in full, log onto www.aacd.com and check out the jCD archives, Winter 2012 issue.

 

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