Digital smile design looks good on video. A face, a set of teeth, a software overlay that redraws the smile in seconds: it is an easy Reel. It is also the kind of video that has historically ended in a before-and-after shot, which the NMC's advertising guidelines issued on 6 October 2026 now address directly.
This post is for a dental implant or cosmetic dentistry clinic that wants to keep making smile-design content. It gives a shot list that shows the process, a framing guide, a consent clause for reuse and a compliance checklist. The aim is to teach patients how treatment planning works, and to do it without implying what any individual patient will get.
What the rules now say
The NMC's Ethics and Medical Registration Board issued guidelines on ethical advertising and public communication on 6 October 2026. The detail below comes from Medical Dialogues' summary; read the primary notice on the NMC site and our NMC guidelines page before you set policy, since a summary can miss a clause.
As summarised:
- Before-and-after photographs are prohibited, and patient consent does not make them permissible.
- Advertising of surgical results, personal achievements, success rates and the number of patients treated is prohibited.
- Patient photos, videos and records can be used in advertising only where law permits and consent and safeguards are met; consent must be specific, informed, voluntary, documented and verifiable, and identifying details must be removed or obscured.
- Guarantees, painless-treatment claims and unverifiable superlatives are prohibited.
- Using an agency or influencer does not shift responsibility away from the doctor.
Whether and how these rules apply to a dentist depends on your registration and on your dental council. Dentists in India are registered under the Dentists Act, 1948 and regulated through the Dental Council of India and state dental councils, and we have not verified how the NMC notice applies to them. Ask your council and your legal adviser. The safe design is to follow the stricter reading: no before-and-after, no outcomes, no testimonials in promotion.
Older advice, including some on this site written before the notice, discussed consented before-and-after content for cosmetic practices. Where that conflicts with the October 2026 notice, the notice should win. Our compliance guide on before-and-after content is the place to check what has been updated.
Smile-design content that teaches
The idea is to show the process and the thinking, not the transformation. Four formats work.
1. The planning walkthrough, on a model. Show the steps of digital smile design using a typodont, a stock face or an animation: photographs and scans are taken, the proportions of the face and teeth are analysed, a plan is drawn, and the plan is discussed. Label it as an illustration.
2. The explainer on measurements. What does a dentist look at: the midline, tooth proportions, the smile line, gum levels? Use a diagram of a generic face. Each element is a fact that helps a patient understand a consultation.
3. The software demonstration, with a team member. A staff member who has consented can serve as the demonstration case, if the content is explicitly labelled as a planning demonstration. Be careful here: a staff member's improved smile is still an image of a result. Keep the demonstration to the overlay and the measurement, never a side-by-side outcome.
4. The decision guide for implants. "Questions to ask before an implant consultation": what imaging is needed, how bone is assessed, what timelines are discussed, what the maintenance involves. This is general education reviewed by the dentist.
A shot list for a compliant smile-design Reel
Use this as a base for a 45 to 60 second video.
| Shot | Content | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hook: a question on screen, "What does a dentist measure before designing a smile?" | No patient face |
| 2 | Diagram of a face with facial midline and smile line drawn | Generic illustration |
| 3 | Intraoral scanner or camera on a model | Model or typodont, labelled |
| 4 | Software screen with overlay on a stock image | Use a licensed image or a staff-consented demo |
| 5 | Dentist to camera, explaining one consideration | Plain language, no claims |
| 6 | A text card: "Every plan is individual. Your dentist will explain options and limits." | Mandatory framing |
| 7 | Closing: how to book a consultation | Neutral, no offer |
Take care with the overlay in shot 4. A before-and-after is created by showing the original and the redrawn smile side by side. Show the process, a single image with the planning lines on it, and do not show the finished smile.
Framing: words that stay inside the line
The wording of the voice-over and caption carries as much risk as the image.
- Say "plan", "design" and "options", not "result" and "transformation".
- Avoid "perfect", "ideal", "flawless" and "instant".
- Avoid "painless" and "no-risk". The reported guidance prohibits painless-treatment claims.
- Avoid "best dentist" and "No.1", and rankings, unless the claim is verifiable on the terms reported.
- Avoid timeline promises such as "new smile in one day". If a protocol exists for same-day procedures, explain the criteria and leave out the promise.
- Avoid prices as bait. Factual fees are allowed in the summary, but offers designed to induce procedures are restricted. Take advice before posting any price or package.
A useful self-check: if a sentence could be shown to a regulator and a patient and mean the same thing to both, it is probably safe.
