Before-and-after galleries are the main thing patients judge a clinic on, and they are among the easiest things in dentistry to make misleading without technically lying.
The tells worth knowing
Look at the lighting first. A dim, unflattering before and a bright, flash-lit after does much of the work before any dentistry is involved.
Then the angle. Teeth photographed slightly from below look longer and more prominent. If the two images are not shot from the same position, they are not comparable.
Wet, dry and retracted
Teeth photographed dry look lighter than the same teeth photographed wet. A dry before and a glossy after is a real effect that has nothing to do with treatment.
Retractors change how much tooth is visible. A before without them and an after with them shows you a different amount of the same mouth.
What a trustworthy series looks like
Same angle, same lighting, same magnification, same hydration. Often less flattering than the alternative, which is rather the point.
Better still, look for full-face smiling photographs alongside the close-ups. Close-ups hide whether the result actually suits the person’s face.
The cases nobody posts
Galleries show best work, which is fair enough. What is more informative is asking to see a case similar to yours, including one photographed several years after completion.
Long-term follow-up images are far harder to fake and far rarer to find. A practice that has them is a practice that stayed in touch with its patients.
Ask for a five-year follow-up photograph of a case like yours. The answer to that request tells you more than an entire gallery.
If you want to know how this would apply to your smile, book a remote consultation with us.
