10 March 2014
Smile Makeovers
A smile makeover is a treatment plan to change and enhance the appearance of a patient’s smile. Usually done through cosmetic dentistry, in certain cases, it can also entail application of orthodontics and periodontics. A smile makeover can range from simple teeth whitening to surgical teeth and gum contouring to bite correction solutions involving the use of braces for several months. The actual treatment you will get will however essentially depend on how you expect a perfect smile should look.
As with other dental procedures, before the actual smile makeover treatment, you will need to schedule for an initial consultation with your dentist. During this first meeting, you will be asked to disclose what you want fixed regarding your smile. It may be that there is some discoloration in your teeth or you have some unsightly crowns, or you have crooked, misaligned, chipped or missing teeth. It may be that too little of your teeth can be seen above the gum line. It may even be that your smile is being severely hampered by deeper dental problems like when you have an impacted wisdom tooth or you have a TMJ disorder that is causing problems with your very jaw. In any event, once you come in as a patient, be ready to tell your dentist what you think is wrong with your teeth or you smile.
Following that consultation, the dentist will examine you and come up with a treatment plan. If you concur with the plan, you will be scheduled for the procedure. Often, for simple cases like teeth whitening or dental bonding, the treatment can be commenced that very day.the treatment will be scheduled, much your smile makeover would cost you. Aside from the usual teeth whitening and dental bonding, most treatments for smile makeovers also cover procedures requiring repair of chipped or broken teeth with veneer or porcelain, reshaping of irregularly proportioned teeth, straightening or aligning of crooked, gapped, protruding or crowded teeth with the use of braces, restoring or replacing missing teeth or dental crowns, surgical contouring of teeth and/or gum line. In certain cases, the smile makeover may entail not only such dental solutions but also facial rejuvenation procedures like using dermal filler treatments to correct or improve deep smile lines, frown lines or lips that seem not full enough. Each treatment plan will however always be customized based on patient specifications.
In the past, perceived failures of cosmetic dental treatments have often been blamed on procedures which fail to meet the patient’s expectations. Now however, this problem can be addressed by new technology which allows the creation of “trial smiles” before actually proceeding with the actual smile makeover treatment. This technology, which employs computer-aided smile selection guides and cosmetic imaging techniques, allows dentist and patient to visualize the possible end result of various alternative treatments. In typical cases, a patient will need to undergo only one procedure, i.e., crown lengthening, to satisfactorily make over his or her smile. In other cases, some patients may need a combination of treatments, i.e. crown lengthening with veneer or porcelain treatment, to complete the makeover. In any event, the goal of a smile makeover is always to empower each patient with a smile that he or she will be proud to share with everyone.
Smile makeovers require the application of both technical and artistic dental skills in order to create aesthetically pleasing, natural-looking results. More often than not, how well a smile looks depends on the overall harmony of teeth color, contour, size, incisal edges, occlusal plane, and midline with the patient’s facial features. In many cases, it has been found that this harmony can be achieved just by making the four front teeth more in keeping with the rest of the face. However, the actual extent of the smile makeover will really often depend on what the patient wants done.
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