You’ve decided to explore restorative or cosmetic dentistry. You have a cracked tooth that needs a crown, you want veneers to improve your smile, or you’re not sure what you need and hope someone will tell you. So you book a consultation, and now you’re probably wondering what to expect.
At some practices, the consultation is quick. The dentist looks at your teeth, takes a few photos, recommends a treatment, and hands you a price. Sometimes, that’s just how it works.
At Aesthetic Dentistry Centre, the consultation is different. It’s more thorough and starts with questions most practices skip.
Dr. Mark Sowell and Dr. Sara Chen have decades of combined experience. Dr. Sowell is one of only 40 dentists worldwide with both MAGD and AACD credentials. Dr. Chen is a prosthodontist trained at MIT and Harvard. Here’s what a consultation at their Plano office actually looks like.
The First Question: What Do You Want to Change?
At some practices, the consultation is about what the dentist sees, not what the patient wants. They identify problems and recommend solutions. The patient’s goals are secondary.
At Aesthetic Dentistry Centre, the conversation starts with you. What bothers you about your smile? What do you want to change and what do you want to keep?
That last question matters. Some patients want whiter teeth but love their smile’s shape. Others want to fix a chip but don’t want to change anything else. Knowing what you want to preserve is as important as knowing what you want to fix.
The Second Question: What’s the Story Behind Your Smile?
A newer dentist might look at a chipped tooth and recommend bonding or a porcelain veneer. Dr. Sowell or Dr. Chen will ask how the chip happened. Was it a sports injury, a fall, or years of grinding?
The answer changes the recommendation. A trauma-related chip might need only a simple cosmetic fix. A chip from grinding might need a night guard in addition to the restoration. Otherwise, the same chip will appear again.
The same goes for discoloration. If coffee has yellowed your teeth, whitening will work. If tetracycline or fluorosis caused the discoloration, whitening won’t help.
This is where decades of experience matter. Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen know the difference because they’ve seen both for decades.
The Third Question: What’s Your Dental History?
This is where a longer-tenured practice has an advantage. If you’ve been a patient at Aesthetic Dentistry Centre for years, Dr. Sowell or Dr. Chen already knows your history. They know which teeth have been restored, which ones have crowns, and which ones have been sensitive in the past. They know what your smile looked like 10 years ago and how it’s changed.
If you’re a new patient, they’ll ask about your history in detail. What dental work have you had? Any trauma? Any orthodontics? Any sensitivity, gum disease, or TMJ issues?
That information shapes the plan. A veneer on a sensitive tooth might require a different approach than one on a healthy tooth. A crown on a root-canal-treated tooth needs a different design than one on a vital tooth.
The Fourth Question: How Does Your Bite Function?
Most cosmetic consultations skip this question, but it matters most for long-term results. Dr. Chen’s prosthodontic training focused on the masticatory system, which includes the teeth, jaw joints, and muscles. Dr. Sowell’s advanced training through Spear Education and the Dawson Center covered occlusion and bite function in depth. Both evaluate how your teeth meet, how your jaw moves, and whether there are signs of imbalance.
Why does this matter for cosmetic work? Because a beautiful smile that doesn’t work correctly won’t last. If your bite is off, your new veneers or crowns will wear unevenly. They might chip, crack, or come loose. The result might look great on day one and fail within a few years.
A practice with this level of training has seen that happen. They’ve watched patients from other offices come in with failed cosmetic work because the bite wasn’t addressed. That’s why they check it before recommending treatment.
The Fifth Question: What’s Your Timeline and Budget?
Cosmetic and restorative dentistry is an investment. Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen take that seriously. They’ll walk you through the cost of each treatment option and explain what insurance covers and what it doesn’t. They’ll also discuss payment plans and financing options if that would help.
They’ll also talk about timing. Some treatments can be completed in a single visit. Others take weeks or months. If you have an event coming up, they’ll help you plan around it.
They’ll also be honest. If a treatment isn’t worth the investment for your specific situation, they’ll tell you. That’s part of the practice’s philosophy: all dentistry is cosmetic, but not all dentistry needs to be extensive.
What Happens After the Consultation
Once Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen have gathered all the information, they’ll create a personalized treatment plan. This might include one treatment or a combination. It might be phased over time or involve the in-house ceramic lab for same-day restorations.
You’ll see a preview of what your smile could look like using digital imaging and a mock-up. You’ll have time to ask questions and make changes, and you’ll approve the plan before anything begins.
If you’re a candidate for same-day crowns in Plano, you might complete treatment in a single visit. If you’re considering veneers, the in-house lab usually takes two to three weeks.
Why This Approach Matters
The difference between a thorough consultation and a quick one shows up in the results. Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen have seen what happens when cosmetic work ignores the underlying bite. They’ve seen how a poorly designed veneer can cause problems years later. They’ve seen how whitening can leave teeth looking unnatural if the shade isn’t chosen carefully.
Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen have also seen the opposite. Patients who came in with complex problems left with natural-looking smiles that lasted for years. That’s the result of careful planning, not luck.
Serving Plano and the DFW Metroplex
Aesthetic Dentistry Centre is at 1200 Village Creek Drive #102 in Plano, TX. We serve patients from Plano, Dallas, Frisco, Southlake, Collin County, and across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. We also welcome out-of-town patients who travel to Plano for advanced cosmetic and implant care.
If you’re considering a crown or a veneer, we’d love to talk. Dr. Sowell and Dr. Chen will take the time to understand your goals, evaluate your smile, and create a plan that works for you.
Call our Plano dental office at (972) 382-6855 to schedule your consultation, or request an appointment online anytime.