A perfect smile is the most attractive feature of our face. It helps you leave the best impression during social, personal and professional visits.
But not every one of us is lucky enough to have a perfect smile that locks attention.
A recent study revealed that…
- Over 75% of people don’t feel confident to smile in a photograph.
- Over 45% of people assess a person by the look of their smile.
- Over 75% of people think that a beautiful smile helps them grow psychologically.
- Over 65% of people think that an attractive smile helps in a better wellbeing.
If you are feeling shy and embarrassed to smile…or if you want to change the appearance of your lips or jaws to enhance your smile…. Then it’s time to think about “SMILE MAKEOVER”.
What is Smile Makeover?
A smile makeover also known as a smile rejuvenation is a process of changing your smile appearance in a very short period of time. The process begins with a consultation with the dentist – where the patient expresses their concerns and desires. This enables us and patient to decide together what options can be implemented and the outcomes that can be achieved to give the patient the look they desire. The dentist uses smile designing treatment to modify your smile as per the requirements.
What is Smile Designing?
It is a dental procedure that corrects and creates natural-looking smiles, artistically. Regardless of the state of your existing teeth, smile designs can work miracles to restore the appearance you are dissatisfied with, or that is damaged due to age or accident.
What Can Smile Designing Correct?
There are several attributes of teeth and smile that a cosmetic dentist can correct using smile designing. These issues are actually discussed during your initial visit to the dentist for a smile makeover. Below are some of the common smile complaints…
1. Crooked Teeth
Properly aligned and straight teeth have a major impact on the smile. But this is not the case with everyone. Most of the people have unevenly aligned teeth which can be the reason for embarrassment. Teeth that are twisted, overlapping, and crowded are commonly referred to as crooked teeth. In most of the cases, the lower front teeth are the most affected ones. They are can be aligned properly and can be straightened using braces (invisible or conventional). For quicker results, the dentist may suggest porcelain veneers.
2. Broken Or Chipped Teeth
Depending on the extent of damage, they can be repaired using treatment options like porcelain crowns, bonding, porcelain veneers, and others.
3. Missing Teeth
Missing tooth is the worst form of an imperfect smile. It can be caused due to oral health negligence or accidents. The missing spaces in the arch can be corrected using dental implants or bridges.
4. Alignment And Spacing
Some people have more space between the teeth. Apart from being unsightly, these gaps also lead to functional problems. The gaps can be reduced using veneers, composite resin bonding techniques, and invisible braces.
5. Gummy Smile
This can easily be rectified by our laser gum contouring. If you are not satisfied with the shade of your teeth, or if you have stained teeth, they can be treated with oral prophylaxis or professional teeth whitening.
6. Fuller Lips, Cheeks And Smile
Aged or unshapely face can be improved or enhanced using certain procedures like orthodontics and oral maxillofacial surgery.
7. Tooth Texture And Characterization
In order to make the teeth look more feminine or masculine, a dentist may recommend characterizing it with veneers or crowns.
What Does a Dentist Do in Cosmetic Smile Designing?
Some of the options, the dentist will consider are tooth recontouring to even out the smile and create a more symmetrical look. The dentist may replace old crowns where the metal underneath has been exposed due to the change in gums, with new type full porcelain crowns where there is no metal underneath.
In most of the cases, dentists will take impressions of the patient’s teeth and make a set of study models. Later the changes are performed on the models in wax. Once the models are finished, they will be evaluated with the patients and discuss the resultant changes to determine if our goals are met.
In order to change the contour or shade of the teeth, the dentist may suggest porcelain veneers – through this, you can get your desired result. After that, the dentist will look at the gum line and check out if it requires any changes to get a balanced symmetrical appearance.
If any of the teeth have decayed or if they have to be removed then the dentist will suggest implants. Choosing a dental implant procedure is a better choice for future dental health. They last pretty long than other treatment options.
A cosmetic treatment plan consists of several restorative methods. Below is a list of things a dentist will do for shaping, sculpting and making your smile more enhanced and beautiful.
1. Tooth Colored Fillings:
The dentist will use natural-colored materials to fill up space in the teeth caused by cavities. Before applying materials, a dental professional will clean the damaged part of the tooth. Materials used for filling up space include resin, lab-made porcelain inlays and outlays.
2. Tooth Whitening:
Our teeth can get stained for many reasons that include drinking coffee, smoking, taking alcohol and many others. Even aging can lead to discoloration of teeth. Teeth whitening is a process where the color of the teeth are restored to make them shiny and bright. This can be in 2 ways – either in-office bleach or laser treatment. Based on your budget and other factors, the dentist will choose the right treatment for you.
3. Veneers:
Veneers are tooth-colored thin shells that are attached to the tooth (front part). They are usually custom made using materials like ceramic, composite resin, or porcelain. They can be used to fill up the spaces in between the teeth, cover the stained teeth, poorly shaped or crooked.
4. Braces:
Braces are one of the long lasting and best methods to fix crowded and crooked teeth. Over the years, braces have become much smaller and less noticeable. If you are still worried about the visibility of the braces then you can try transparent aligners – they are much discreet and blend in with tooth color.
5. Enamel Shaping:
The dentist will reshape the teeth by contouring tooth enamel (outer layer of the tooth). This option is used when teeth appear a little crowded, uneven or too long. They improve the way your teeth look.
6. Crowns
If your tooth requires more dramatic change then crowns are the best option. This option will be chosen by the dentist when veneers and enamel shaping cannot provide, the desired result. In this process, the outer part of the crown is removed and the custom-made crown is placed over it.
7. Length Of The Tooth
Short teeth don’t provide a good appearance when you smile. Treatments for making teeth a bit longer include reshaping, lengthening the two front teeth, composite bonding, porcelain veneers and, others. Lengthening teeth also have an impact on overall facial appearance. For example – a long, square, properly shaped teeth provide slimming effect in individuals with round face.
8. Tooth Proportions
A pleasant smile has a correct proportion of two central teeth are dominant and with a width-to-length ratio (4-to-5). This proportion guides the other teeth in terms of length and width. In an aesthetic view, this smile appears much more balanced and perfect.
9. Gum Depigmentation
Beautiful gums are usually pink in color. However, some people have brown, dark brown and black gums – which look ugly aesthetically. The darkness in the gums is actually caused by melanin pigmentation. With latest technologies and developments, the dark pigmentation can be removed using lasers.
10. Gum Recontouring
Among smile makeover factors, it is very important that the size and shape of the teeth should be in proportionate with gums. Otherwise, the smile doesn’t look great. Especially for people with gums covering too much then, this treatment is the best. This cosmetic dental procedure will even out an uneven gum line.