Over the last six years, a big part of the Annual Scientific Session has been the Smile Gallery contest. Many talented dentists have submitted their artistic endeavors for viewing and judging by their peers. The quality and quantity of items have increased over the years and the contest has arguably become one of the most anticipated events of the meeting. The Smile Gallery currently has six different categories in which you can enter before-and-after photographs: all-ceramic restorations, indirect anterior or posterior esthetics, mixed media, fixed or fixed removable prosthodontics, direct composites, and a special effects category. In 1996, the judges had a momentary lapse of reason and awarded me a 2nd place in direct composite veneers and a 3rd place in indirect porcelain veneers. I was pumped up to have been selected for a limited number of awards that were given out amongst all of the great entries. However, every year there seems to be a common denominator in the 1st place awards given out – Dr. Tommy Oppenheim of Thomasville, GA. For those of you who know Tommy, he too can be an excitable boy when he nails these awards – you might even hear "gosh" said at a high decibel level! For those of you who don’t know Dr. Oppenheim, he is an Accredited Member and an Accreditation Examiner, and truly one of the most talented dentists and nicest guys you will ever meet.

I was able to corner my friend long enough to get some insight from him on what his secrets are for Smile Gallery success. For any of us to have success with the cosmetic dentistry we provide for our patients, we need to strive to become better dentists, improve our skills, and constantly pursue excellence. This is a formula that Tommy follows in his practice everyday and it has helped him gain seven first place awards since the Vancouver meeting. It is his opinion that the best-kept secret to Smile Gallery success is that there is no key or secret to winning! "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you never know what the judges will be looking for from year to year. Is it innovation, technique, beauty of the material, transformation of the smile, or how dramatically improved was the appearance?" Photography is the single most important tool in an esthetic practice. Like most of us, Dr. Oppenheim learned his photography through the Accreditation process and he photographs everything from diagnosis to delivery. He believes that photography is valuable for feedback for ourselves, for laboratory communication, for marketing aspects, and necessary for judging Smile Gallery entries. Tommy feels that the Smile Gallery is a bi-product of what we do every day in our practice, and selecting cases that you want to enter is simply a matter of picking them out from your photo album.

What is it that really drives The Georgian Smile King? (I just came up with that – hope you like it Tommy!) "It’s exciting, competitive, full of suspense and drama, and a goal to shoot for during the year. I look at it as a way to see how you stack up with your peers and how much others may or may not appreciate it." WOW! Good thing they don’t have a ‘rasslin’ tournament for one of the sporting events. Seriously folks, Dr. Oppenheim feels the Smile Gallery is all about fun. It is an incentive during the year to strive for excellent results because our work is on display for all to see and most of us are competitive and critical. The first year he entered, it was for fun, and he won three awards. The next year, his wife and staff got involved and encouraged him to enter. "When I have had the good fortune to win the Smile Gallery award it has given us a tremendous opportunity to use a legitimate, solid marketing tool for our practice that is based on fact. There is a sense of pride for the staff and the patient and the patient feels like a celebrity." One of the last comments Dr. Oppenheim made was in reference to the ceramists. "I work with several ceramists and a few are going through the Accreditation process. This gives us the opportunity to showcase the artistry of some of those expert ceramists which I’ve had the good fortune to work with. The lab technicians are the unsung heroes of our profession and they don’t get nearly the recognition they deserve."

I couldn’t agree more. I also have had the good fortune to work with some of the same master ceramists, and the benefactors of their expertise are our patients.

That was really some great stuff. I had a lot of fun talking to Tommy about the Smile Gallery. He mentioned that he felt fortunate, humble, and lucky to be in the position that he is. I’m proud to call him my friend, however, this Smile Gallery thing is competitive and it’s time we work hard this year to dethrone The Georgian Smile King!

If you are in good health, enjoying life, providing exceptional service for your patients, and a member of the AACD, then you have Something To Smile About! Have a great summer!