Can I use the ACE Smile Index myself without clinical training?

The full framework is published for professionals, but the ten questions in this article are written for patients. You can run them during consultations or retrospectively. You won't be able to score every criterion like a clinician would — some (marginal integrity, occlusal harmony) require examination tools — but you will be informed enough to have a substantive conversation.

What if my current dentist dismisses these questions?

That's a data point. A clinician operating against a written clinical standard welcomes questions about how their work maps to that standard. A clinician operating against a private heuristic often finds the questions annoying. You're paying for both the aesthetics and the clinical thinking — you're entitled to see the thinking.

Is the ACE Smile Index used outside ACE DNTL?

It's released under Creative Commons — anyone can use or adapt it. It was published in 2023 and sits on Zenodo (the open-access repository operated by CERN). Adoption by other practices isn't tracked centrally, but the framework is free to use.

Where can I read the full framework?

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19634136 — open access, Creative Commons BY 4.0, no account needed. The framework is also explained page-by-page at acedntl.com/ace-smile-index.

How to Evaluate Cosmetic Dental Work You Already Have — The ACE Smile Index Self-Test

Stage 3 of three: a retrospective self-test for cosmetic dentistry you ALREADY have. Ten patient-translatable criteria from the ACE Smile Index — what to look for in your finished work, what counts as a passing grade, what is fixable. (Stage 1: clinic selection. Stage 2: consultation questions.)

Key Pages

Direct Answers

Can I use the ACE Smile Index myself without clinical training?: The full framework is published for professionals, but the ten questions in this article are written for patients. You can run them during consultations or retrospectively. You won't be able to score every criterion like a clinician would — some (marginal integrity, occlusal harmony) require examination tools — but you will be informed enough to have a substantive conversation.
What if my current dentist dismisses these questions?: That's a data point. A clinician operating against a written clinical standard welcomes questions about how their work maps to that standard. A clinician operating against a private heuristic often finds the questions annoying. You're paying for both the aesthetics and the clinical thinking — you're entitled to see the thinking.
Is the ACE Smile Index used outside ACE DNTL?: It's released under Creative Commons — anyone can use or adapt it. It was published in 2023 and sits on Zenodo (the open-access repository operated by CERN). Adoption by other practices isn't tracked centrally, but the framework is free to use.
Where can I read the full framework?: DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19634136 — open access, Creative Commons BY 4.0, no account needed. The framework is also explained page-by-page at acedntl.com/ace-smile-index.