You can see something is wrong, but not exactly why.
That gap between sensing a problem and naming it is the difference between a judgment you can act on and one that stays out of reach.
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On-Demand Course · 8 Classes · 61 Videos · 13 CE Credits
See What You've Been Missing in Every Smile You Design.
8 classes. 17 hours of on-demand training. Module 1 of Designing Smiles with Christian Coachman, Smile Design Fundamentals, covers the artistic principles behind Christian Coachman's entire approach, and the awareness that separates a great clinician from a great smile designer.
$500
$250
50% off this week only. After that, the price returns to $500.
Created by Dr. Christian Coachman
20+
Years of experience in smile design
Founder
of Digital Smile Design
1000s
of dentists trained
The Challenge
Why Your Smiles Are Good, But Not Yet Exceptional.
Your best results depend on your lab, not on you.
The more your outcomes rely on someone else's eye, the less control you have over what patients judge most.
Clinical skill and smile design skill are not the same thing.
It is easy to assume one follows the other, and that assumption is exactly the blind spot this course reveals.
Your work delivers good smiles, but not always confident ones.
A result can be clinically sound and still leave the patient pleased rather than moved, and most dentists never trace that back to their own design eye.
You have no structured link between smile design and treatment planning.
When that connection is unclear, planning decisions lose their reference point and the whole case is harder to lead.
None of this is a gap in your talent. It is a gap in awareness, and that is where this course begins.
"Everybody is a beginner at smile design. Even the best dentists in the world."
Dr. Christian Coachman — Founder, Digital Smile Design
Free Preview Class
The Art of Smile Design.
Christian Coachman traces the connection between art and dentistry back to the moment in art school that changed his career, then shows how the principles great artists use, light and shade, balance, proportion, composition, are the same ones that separate a beautiful smile from an artificial one. It is the lens that changes how you see every case. Watch the full 51-minute class, free.
Testimonials
What Dentists Say About Designing Smiles with Coachman
"
I have been a practicing cosmetic dentist for a while. I feel like I do good work and have a good grasp of smile design. However, when Christian Coachman decided to introduce an online course called Designing Smiles I had to suspend judgment and quiet my ego to take a look at this course. Christian is an amazing communicator and this course is nothing short of spectacular. It's a course that is not only thorough it's also very insightful and practical.
Dr Ramin Tabib
Cosmetic Dentist · New York, USA
"
I have been a dental technician for 32 years and my lab has become known for its full mouth reconstruction cases. I honestly thought I understood full mouth reconstruction and implemented the best possible means for reconstructing patients' smiles. Christian Coachman's DSD Designing Smiles Course has humbled me! It showed me what I did NOT know.
Bill Marais
Lab Technician · Portland, Oregon, USA
Course Overview
What's Included in Module 1 - Smile Design Fundamentals
8
Classes
61
Videos
17h 16m
Duration
On-Demand
13
CE Credits
Most videos run under thirty minutes, so you can finish a class in a sitting or watch a single lesson before a case. Each class builds on the last, so you finish with a complete way of seeing rather than scattered tips.
Here's what your course will look like on our online learning platform, DSD Online.
The Curriculum
Everything You'll Learn, Across 8 Focused Classes.
8 classes · 61 videos · 17h 16m · on-demand · final quiz included
Class 1
9 videos · 2h 01m
The Why
See what's inside
Class 1
9 videos · 2h 01m
The Why
See what's inside- Why esthetics is the one area of dentistry still not under control, and why most cases look artificial until you design from the face
- The three factors that make a smile beautiful: facial integration, natural shapes, and proper value
Class 2
7 videos · 2h 10m
Smile Design Evolution
See what's inside
Class 2
7 videos · 2h 10m
Smile Design Evolution
See what's inside- How smile design evolved from improvised drawings into a systematic, facially driven discipline, and why that shift is what made beautiful outcomes reproducible rather than luck
- The communication protocol, the five facial views, and the virtual patient that turn a design into a predictable final result
Class 3
12 videos · 1h 46m
The Guidelines I
See what's inside
Class 3
12 videos · 1h 46m
The Guidelines I
See what's inside- The shared language of smile design, from facial midline and smile curve to the white-and-pink interface, central dominance, and the incisal embrasures that most often make restorations look fake
- How to read a soft tissue defect the way a designer must, plus the fragmentation and negative-space techniques that train your eye to see exactly what is wrong
Class 4
7 videos · 2h 08m
The Guidelines II
See what's inside
Class 4
7 videos · 2h 08m
The Guidelines II
See what's inside- The "give ideal a chance" starting point: why you design every smile from the face first, as if the patient had no teeth, then negotiate esthetics against function, biology, and structure
- Morpho-psychology: how to customise a smile to a patient's character, using temperament and facial shape, so the result feels unmistakably theirs
Class 5
11 videos · 2h 25m
The Guidelines III
See what's inside
Class 5
11 videos · 2h 25m
The Guidelines III
See what's inside- Why faces are asymmetric and the goal is harmony, not symmetry: how to read facial flow and design a smile that goes with it rather than fighting it
- The five-step design process from face to function, plus the profile, facial thirds, and lip analysis that locate where teeth truly belong
Class 6
9 videos · 4h 00m
Smile Design and Treatment Planning
See what's inside
Class 6
9 videos · 4h 00m
Smile Design and Treatment Planning
See what's inside- Why a wider arch means better esthetics and a better airway, and how smile design becomes the starting point of the whole treatment plan rather than the finishing touch
- The Smile Frame in ten steps: the exact sequence for turning a face into a finished design, and the script for deciding what treatment each case truly needs
Class 7
5 videos · 1h 57m
Digital Natural Restoration
See what's inside
Class 7
5 videos · 1h 57m
Digital Natural Restoration
See what's inside- Why facial integration, natural libraries, and proper value, not layering or colour, are what actually make restorations look real
- The digital smile donator: how to design a patient's new smile from a real natural smile they love, from a relative's teeth to a celebrity's, and carry it all the way to the final result
Class 8
1 video · 49m 43s
Tutorial: Using Keynote for Smile Design and Quality Control
See what's inside
Class 8
1 video · 49m 43s
Tutorial: Using Keynote for Smile Design and Quality Control
See what's inside- Follow Christian's complete step-by-step Keynote workflow, from calibrating the patient's photo and building the DSD frame to fitting the teeth and producing a realistic smile simulation
- Download the working file and practise it yourself, so you arrive at the hands-on modules able to follow along rather than only watch
Plus a final quiz to consolidate what you have learned.
The Program
Smile Design Fundamentals: Module 1 of 3 in the Designing Smiles Program
Module 1 — Smile Design Fundamentals
Online, on-demand
The awareness layer: see how much your smile design can improve and learn the principles that guide it. (You are here.)
Module 2 — Esthetic Intelligence
2D hands-on
Put the fundamentals into practice with guided drawing and design exercises
Module 3 — Designing Restorations from Good to Great
3D hands-on
Apply the approach to complex, compromised cases from diagnosis through execution
Module 1 - Smile Design Fundamentals is the first of the three modules that make up Designing Smiles with Christian Coachman. It is a complete first step in its own right, building the awareness and principles everything else rests on. From there, the two hands-on modules turn that understanding into skill in your own hands.
The recommended path is Module 1 online, Module 2 the same year, and Module 3 the year after. From the day you enrol in Module 1, you join a two-year coaching and mentorship journey for ongoing case sharing, ideas, and direct feedback from Christian inside DSD Online.
Your Instructor
Meet Dr. Christian Coachman
Dr. Christian Coachman
Founder, Digital Smile Design
Designing smiles has been my life's work. I started in the nineties as a ceramicist in my father's lab, worked as a smile architect for some of the best dentists in Europe, and went on to found Digital Smile Design. What I learned across thirty years is that delivering great smiles and knowing how to teach others to deliver them are two different things. This course is the culmination of that: every principle and every trick I developed, condensed to be genuinely effective.
20+
Years of experience in smile design
Founder
of Digital Smile Design
1000s
of dentists trained
"To deliver confidence, we need to be great smile designers. Confidence comes from designing smiles in a way that people will love themselves even more because of our work."
How It Compares
Why Module 1 - Smile Design Fundamentals Is the Best First Step.
| Option | What You Get | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Generic online smile design content | Scattered tips and isolated techniques, with no structured way of seeing and nothing connecting design to planning | Free to $300 |
| ⭐ Module 1 - Smile Design Fundamentals BEST VALUE | The complete awareness layer behind Christian Coachman's approach: the art of smile design, the guidelines, the design-to-planning link, and digital natural restoration. 8 classes, on demand, 13 CE credits. | $250 this week ($500 regular) |
| In-person hands-on smile design masterclasses | Multi-day, hands-on training. Powerful, but a significant investment of time and travel, and best approached once the fundamentals are already in place. | Typically from $5,000 |
| Designing without this foundation | An unclear view of where your smile design skill can improve, and results that stay good rather than becoming outstanding | — |
Enrolment
$500
$250
Save 50%
One-time payment · On-demand
Save 50% when you enrol this week. This price is open for one week only, after which enrolment returns to $500.
What's Included
- 8 on-demand classes, 61 videos, 17 hours 16 minutes of training
- 13 CE credits
- The Keynote smile design and quality-control working file
- Final quiz to consolidate your learning
- A two-year coaching and mentorship journey with Christian Coachman inside DSD Online, starting the day you enrol
One-time payment · On-demand
FAQ
Questions? Here Are Answers.
Is this right for a dentist who feels like a beginner at smile design?
Yes, and that is the point. Everybody is a beginner at smile design, including the most experienced clinicians, so the course meets you wherever you are. If you are early in your career, you start with your mind already open to smile design as a discipline.
Is this relevant if I'm already an experienced restorative dentist?
The best restorative dentists in the world benefit from these fundamentals, because clinical excellence and smile design excellence are different skills. The course shows experienced dentists the areas they have not yet explored, which is often the most valuable realisation of all.
How much time do I need?
17 hours 16 minutes across 61 videos, most under thirty minutes. Because everything is on-demand, you can move through it in a block or watch one class at a time.
Is there any live component?
No. Smile Design Fundamentals is fully on-demand, so you can start the moment you enrol and learn at your own pace.
What exactly do I get when I enrol?
All 8 on-demand classes, 61 videos, and 17 hours 16 minutes of training, the Keynote working file, a final quiz, 13 CE credits, and a two-year coaching and mentorship journey with Christian Coachman inside DSD Online.
Is this suitable for young dentists as well as established ones?
Yes. A young dentist gains an early, mind-opening foundation, while an established dentist gains a clear view of the skills still open to them. The awareness it creates is valuable at every stage.
When will I see the benefit?
The shift begins in the first class, the moment you take an honest look at your own skill. This is an awareness course by design, so the benefit shows in how differently you see your cases, and that can start immediately.
I'm already fully booked and can't commit to a regular schedule.
The course is fully on-demand with no live classes and no start dates, broken into short videos so you can learn between patients or whenever a window opens. There is no schedule to keep.
What makes this different from other smile design training?
Most training teaches isolated techniques. This teaches a way of seeing, built on the artistic principles behind Christian Coachman's entire approach, and it starts by making you aware of what you have not yet explored. It is the foundation the rest of the Designing Smiles program is built on.
Where does this lead after I finish?
It is the first step in a three-module journey. Module 2 takes you into 2D hands-on practice, and Module 3 into 3D hands-on work with complex cases. The recommended path is Module 1 online, Module 2 the same year, Module 3 the following year, all supported by your two-year mentorship with Christian.
Get Started
Start Seeing What You've Been Missing.
See your own work the way a smile designer does, and know exactly where it can get better. This week, at half price.
Save 50% This Week$250 · One week only · 13 CE credits · On-demand