Smile Makeover

There's a reason why the smile is the universal language. The original form of instant messaging, a smile is ageless and it never goes out of style.

In the past few years, the smile has taken center stage as the ultimate symbol of beauty--more than beautiful eyes, more than great hair, even more than a sexy body. A brilliant smile has become the determinant in describing both beauty and personality. Think about it: You never hear someone say, "She's got such a great smile," when they're describing an aloof or rude woman. Rather, such appraisal evokes admiration and envy. She is someone you'd like to model yourself after.

A smile is one of the greatest gifts you can give somebody.

Equally, it's one of the greatest gifts to receive.

Wouldn't life be better if we all smiled more?

Kristen, 54, graphic designer

SMILE SITUATION:

"My teeth were very discolored and I didn't like the shape of them."

SMILE SOLUTION:

We improved her tooth contour and position by placing 8 veneers on the upper arch and whitening her entire mouth.

Paula, 58, writer

SMILE SITUATION:

"I had congenitally missing lateral teeth, which caused large spaces in my smile line. It was time for a change!"

SMILE SOLUTION:

We were able to close the spaces and improve the position and contour by placing ceramic veneers along the upper arch. We placed implants in the areas of the missing teeth which positioned both arches perfectly. We chose an age appropriate shade which maintained naturalness.

Karyn, 52, designer

SMILE SITUATION:

"I was born with lousy teeth, they were discolored with a lot of spaces. I had dentistry done over the years which included crowns and bonding, of which neither seemed to completely solve my problem."

SMILE SOLUTION:

First we evened up her gumline, then created a new smile with 4 crowns and 6 veneers which changed the tooth color, position and shape.

Jolee, 45, real estate

SMILE SITUATION:

"I never wanted to smile because of this old bonding on my teeth, it made me self conscious."

SMILE SOLUTION:

We changed the bonding to ceramic veneers and then whitened the rest.

Alison, 35, professor

SMILE SITUATION:

"I hated to smile, my teeth were discolored with spaces. I always put my hand over my face so people couldn't see."

SMILE SOLUTION:

We changed the aesthetics and function of her smile at the same time. Her bite was improved through new crowns, and we put restorations and ceramic jackets on her front teeth.

Carrie, 51, emergency room doctor

SMILE SITUATION:

"I was never happy with my first set of veneers. Food constantly got stuck in them, which made me nuts, and it was time to have them replaced."

SMILE SOLUTION:

Her high smile line drew attention to her teeth, which needed to be downsized in order to create overall balance to her facial aesthetics. We did this by replacing her old veneers with ones that were better sized and better suited to her face.

Andrea, 39, student

SMILE SITUATION:

"My two fifteen-year old veneers were wearing away, so it was time for new ones. These old veneers were also quite yellow, but at the time, I had no idea just how yellow."

SMILE SOLUTION:

We applied four new veneers, which improved the proportion of her teeth as well as the color. As for the rest, we chose a conservative approach and bonded the canines to close up the spaces. The rest of her teeth were also whitened in order to aesthetically enhance her smile.