While 2020 has been the year no one was expecting, here at DSD it’s been one of intense innovation and growth. When, like businesses all over the world, we adapted our plans, we became determined to seek new ways to provide value.

As well as redoubling our efforts to support our community of DSD Clinics and our DSD Planning Center customers during this time, we have completely reinvented the DSD Residency 1 course experience with our brand-new DSD Residency 1 Livestream and launched our new video-streaming educational content hub, WatchDSD.

While reflecting on this past year, we also wanted to share with you the highlights from our past decade as a company.

What began in 2009 as an innovative concept has become a comprehensive set of workflows and protocols which have the power to redefine the way we work.

And it’s not just the concepts that have progressed, but DSD as a company – today a multi-faceted global business which encompasses not just the concepts and clinical solutions, but DSD Planning Center and DSD Lab services, education, communication, business growth and support, patient experience, and a community of like-minded professionals worldwide.

Before we advance into what is set to be another exceptional year and new decade of DSD, we would like to reflect on some of the most important milestones from the first decade of DSD...

2009: the birth of Digital Smile Design

Christian Coachman created the Digital Smile Design concept at the Coachman family’s Well Clinic in São Paulo, Brazil. Later this same year, our very first DSD course took place! Held in São Paulo with Christian Coachman and Livio Yoshinaga, it laid the foundations for what today is a thriving Education Division which teaches courses all over the world.

2009 was also the year when crucial DSD concepts were developed: transforming PowerPoint/Keynote software into a dental software; translating a 2D digital design to the diagnostic wax-up; and performing the Smile Test Drive.


2010: the DSD concepts traveled outside Brazil

In 2010, we began to take the DSD concepts further afield with our very first course outside Brazil – in Florence, Italy, in collaboration with Dr Andrea Ricci. This year also saw the invention of the Digital Ruler and the development of the concepts of Facial Dynamic Analysis and Digital Asynchronous Communication.


2011: the DSD concepts went even further 

In 2011, we took Digital Smile Design to the US, Germany and Istanbul for the first time. We also developed the DSD documentation protocol with mobile phones, as well as the Smile Frame concept – and DSD’s first logo!


2012: revolutionary DSD Concepts took shape

2012 was a significant year for DSD! As well bringing DSD to Romania on a course with Christian Coachman, Livio Yoshinaga and Florin Cofar, this was our most active year so far in terms of international lectures and courses with 230 days on the road!

This year also saw the birth of the Emotional Dentistry concept and the Motivational Mock-up, changing both our approach to dentistry and the patient experience. This is also when the DSD Mastership was launched.

Finally, in an important step forward, DSD company was founded in São Paulo.

2013: DSD Education expanded

In 2013, we continued to extend the reach of our DSD courses, holding what would be the first of many courses in Spain in partnership with Dr Jose Navarro, Christian Haase and Quintessence.. This was also the year in which the DSD Connect software was developed and when we started the DSD Instructor team.

2014: we opened our global clinical hub

In 2014, we opened the DSD Planning Center in Madrid, starting our journey to provide comprehensive smile design projects for dentists around the world. We also partnered with Nemotec and saw the DSD principles incorporated into the software for the very first facially driven, 3D smile design and interdisciplinary planning software.


2015: DSD concepts went worldwide

In 2015, DSD Education took steps towards its current globality with the first official DSD World Tour in partnership with Quintessence Publishing Group, during which we shared the DSD concepts in hundreds of cities around the world. The first DSD Natural Restoration case was also performed, inspired by the concept from Dr Paulo Kano, furthering our commitment to delivering smiles which are inspired by the beautiful imperfections found in all natural teeth.

Finally, DSD made a big move in 2015 and transferred our headquarters to Madrid – the city where we are still based today.


2016: our Residency programs began

As recognition of DSD increased, we knew we needed a comprehensive course that would give talented clinicians the know-how to start implementing the concepts in their own work. That’s why in 2016, our DSD Residency programs were launched. DSD Residency 1 and 2 give forward-thinking dentists the knowledge to start working with Digital Smile Design.


2017: dentists became smile designers

In 2017, we launched an app for smile design in partnership with Ralph Georg to help dentists perform facially-driven smile design simply and efficiently for their patients. This was also a key year for expansion, as we opened our DSD Miami office.


2018: DSD Clinics for guaranteed exceptional care

DSD Clinics are an interconnected, global network of clinics which are skilled and certified in delivering DSD for their patients, and 2018 was the year that the DSD Clinics project began! This was the year that saw DSD become a marketing and consulting company, and continue our global expansion by opening our Liverpool office.

2019: DSD’s tenth anniversary

Only fitting for the tenth year since the birth of the DSD Concepts, 2019 was a landmark year for the company!

• The DSD Planning Center created 4,230 smile designs, supporting 878 dentists in 72 countries around the world
• DSD Education taught 15 different clinical and conceptual courses in 22 cities, to a total of over 2,000 participants from all over the globe
• The DSD Clinic project grew, reaching 46 certified Clinics spanning 12 countries
• We inaugurated our brand new DSD Headquarters in Madrid, which brought the different facets of the business together under one roof
• We opened our Shanghai office
• We opened the DSD Lab in Rio de Janeiro as well as the Printing Center in Madrid
• Our new website was launched as a one-stop portal for all things DSD
• We began offering DSD Online Education as a way for DSD Members to refresh their knowledge and master the concepts
• We embarked on our strategic partnership with Align Technology, which led to a number of significant developments

2020: a new decade of DSD

Year-on-year progression has seen us expand around the globe with offices in Miami, Shanghai and Liverpool as well as our new HQ in Madrid, which brought the DSD Planning Center, DSD Education, DSD Lab and Marketing functions together under one roof earlier this year. We’re incredibly proud of our team and our community for everything that’s been achieved this year...and excited to take this growth forward as we embark on the next decade of DSD.

Want to see more DSD content? WatchDSD is DSD’s all-new premium video streaming platform, purpose-built to provide our community with comprehensive online training on all DSD’s concepts. Access this on-demand content where and when it suits you. Take advantage of newly created video content which will be added each month – including the unmissable clinical Masterclasses with Christian Coachman.

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