Mayan Esthetic Dentistry: Using Modern Techniques and Digital Imaging Technologies to Link the Past to the Present

Esthetic dentistry is evolving rapidly with the aid of technological advances. This swift progression overshadows the beginning of dental esthetics, which astonishingly began about 1,500 years ago. Indeed, pre-Columbian civilizations, especially the Mayas, performed craniofacial orthopedics and dental treatments for esthetic purposes. The final results were astounding, both visually and longevity-wise. Unfortunately, the remaining artifacts are heavily damaged, and this leads researchers to establish only hypotheses on the means used at that time. This article explores how Mayan esthetic dentistry can be resuscitated with the use of modern tools that are readily accessible to today's practitioners. Through different workflows, the author has reconstructed a Mayan skull and Mayan smiles using 3D imaging, intraoral scanning, and 3D printing as well as a manual artistic touch. The utilization of modern technological equipment makes it possible to meet virtually any esthetic demand, whether current or ancestral.