The Precious Smile Makeover
A uthored by Dr. Prof. Viral Patel
A smile makeover is chosen to enhance the overall facial appearance and increase one's confidence. This includes a procedure or combination of procedures (cosmetic dentistry) performed to improve the appearance of one’s smile. These procedures may include, dental veneers, composite [light cure] fillings, placing tooth implants and teeth whitening. Initially, it is necessary to treat all the oral health issues before taking a decision go for smile makeover procedures. What are the aesthetic components of a smile? Prominent aesthetic components of a smile are, tooth color, shape, and teeth alignment. In addition to these, a cosmetic dentist may consider some other aspects to significantly improve your smile. In addition to the color, alignment and balance of your teeth in the aesthetic zone of your smile (the upper and lower teeth that show on smiling), there are several attributes of your teeth and smile that your cosmetic dentist will evaluate with you, when planning your smile makeover. These may include: Length of the tooth: Long and uniform teeth represent youthful appearance, whereas, shorter teeth are indicative of aging. Smile line: Its an imaginary line that represents the standard point of reference to decide the suitable length of the teeth to obtain desirable appearance. Tooth Proportions: The ideal proportion that may reflect a pleasant smile often have two dominant central teeth and width-to-length ratio of 4:5. When is the smile makeover needed? Every smile is charming, whether the person is charming or not. However, there is always a scope to improve one’s smile and overall appearance. In most of the cases, certain defects or flaws in the aesthetic elements of a smile may affect your smile. Thus, correcting these flaws with the help of multiple or single cosmetic dentistry procedure(s) may improve your smile and appearance. The most common flaws that may affect your smile are:
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Missing teeth or gap between the teeth: Missing teeth or gap can significantly affect an overall appearance. Further, it also increases the chances of tooth decay and may disturb the tooth alignment by providing a space to shift the neighboring tooth. Treatment option: In this case, the expert/s may choose to have dental implants, dental bridge or partial denture to fill the gap and improve the smile.
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Staining or discoloration of the tooth: Staining, discoloration or off-white teeth can greatly affect the overall appearance of your smile as well as face even if you have all the other aesthetic elements of the smile in good condition. Treatment option: The cosmetic dentist often chooses to have a procedure of teeth whitening. In this procedure, experts pick a matching shade that is suitable for individual’s complexion and perform teeth whitening.
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Abrupt teeth alignment: Abrupt and zigzag teeth alignment due to misplacing of the teeth can severely affect one’s overall look, especially the smile. Treatment option: It is often corrected by performing full mouth reconstruction or certain orthodontic treatments before proceeding for a smile makeover. However, overlapping teeth or slightly misaligned teeth can be corrected with the help of porcelain veneers or clear braces.
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Tooth fall out: Aging, natural wear down or tooth fall out are the signs of getting older. Undoubtedly, the fallen tooth often makes you look older than you actually are. Treatment option: In this case, a cosmetic dentist may choose to perform orthodontics or oral maxillofacial surgery to fill out the cheeks and face.
Abrupt tooth shape: Abrupt shape of the tooth may be distracting to the person you are talking and can look unpleasant. Most often, even if the tooth shape is normal it can be corrected to make it more attractive as an extreme smile makeover. For shorter teeth, reshaping and lengthening the two front central teeth with composite bonding, laser treatment or porcelain veneers / dental porcelain laminates (these are artificial tooth-colored shells used to cover the affected tooth with an intention to improve the appearance) can be implemented to obtain desirable looks. Whereas, gummy smile can be corrected by modifying the gum line. Further, teeth lengthening can also improve overall facial appearance by providing a slimming effect. What is the time taken for a smile makeover? The time required for the process of smile makeover may vary for individual depending on several factors including, type of defect, desirable change, location, overall oral health, etc. However, the duration can be longer if an individual has some oral health issue that needs to be restored before the makeover procedure. What care, should one take after the smile makeover? Regardless of the type of procedure that was performed to improve your smile appearance, the life span of this charming smile often depends on the aftercare. Here are some tips to increase and maintain the smile makeover: • Brush your teeth regularly 2 to 3 times a day, using non-abrasive fluoride toothpastes and avoid abrasive toothpastes. •
Remove debris and plaque by flossing, especially individuals with veneers. • Rinse your mouth regularly, using alcohol-free mouthwashes as alcohol can degrade bond between restorations over time. • Prevent cavities by choosing good food and implementing healthy oral habits. • Reduce the intake of sweets and sugar. • Limit the intake of carbonated beverages, tea, coffee and so on. • Stop consuming alcohol. • Avoid chewing hard objects eg. Opening soda bottle. • Visit your doctor regularly for teeth cleaning and follow instructions. What is the expected lifespan of ‘smile makeover’? With regular checkups and proper care, the modifications, especially resin-restorations done to improve your smile may last for 3 to 9 years or maybe longer. Whereas, porcelain restoration may last for about 10 years or longer. However, dental crowns may need to be replaced after ten to fifteen years. What are the benefits of a smile makeover? The benefits of a smile makeover are: • Natural tooth color fillings replace unpleasant metal filling. • Corrects chipped or cracked teeth. • Fills up the missing teeth. • Corrects the gap between the teeth. • Improves teeth color. • Reduces gum tissue. • Corrects abrupt alignment. • Corrects the shape and size of the teeth. • Improves the overall facial look. •