Cosmetic Makeovers - Show and Tell - Cosmetic Dentistry

Porcelain Veneers Gone Bad

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:11:43 -0500

Helena Green is a top beauty writer in London and eight weeks ago she went to one of the best cosmetic dentists to get porcelain veneers on her upper teeth. The new smile cost her over $18,000. She regrets this decision immensely.

Now she is in constant pain after having her upper teeth shaved down and getting porcelain veneers (which are too large for her mouth).

The veneers the dentist fitted were significantly longer than my own teeth (something we hadn't discussed and I didn't want) and suddenly I had a lot of porcelain clanging around in my mouth, which made the pain worse.

She was told by a second dentist that the veneers were too big and that my bite had been adversely affected - there was no contact between upper and lower teeth when I bit down, causing the jaw pain.

I also learnt that because I grind my teeth...I was not an ideal candidate for veneers. I was told I would have to get my bite corrected before my dentist could assess whether I needed root canal treatment.

A Gummy Smile - Before and After

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:52:12 -0500

Dr. Farnoosh, a cosmetic dentist in Los Angeles, has a solution for people with a gummy smile. While some dentists say there is nothing that can be done to fix a high lip line, Dr. Farnoosh performs a surgical procedure that repositions the upper lip in relation the the lip line. The incisions are made inside the lips so there is no scarring on the outer lip. His technique limits the vertical movement of the upper lip which keeps the lips closer to the teeth when smiling.

Does upper lip repositioning also make the lips more lusciously fuller? Miraculously, it would appear so from this before and after picture.

We'd appreciate any comments from cosmetic dentists here about upper lip positioning as a solution to gummy smiles.

Teeth Whitening: What Shade is Best?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:26:12 -0500

Christopher Muther of the Boston Globe thinks most people who whiten their teeth go overboard with the unnatural whiteness. We'd have to agree.

A friend met him for lunch and when she flashed her ivories, it was as if she had turned on a florescent light bulb. Her teeth are a shade of white not even found in the Arctic. I had to fight the urge to stare in amazement.

I was too polite to say it to her face, but I'm not too polite to say it in print. Teeth should resemble a color found in nature, not the xenon headlights that blind me in my rearview mirror as I drive.

A dentist he interviews says that in the early days of whitening, dentists didn't take teeth to these shades but now many people are insisting on having their teeth look like a porcelain toilet bowl.

A Cosmetic Dentist at Whistler Skiing to Work

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:40:37 -0500

Here's a spectacular and very short video (only 37 seconds) promoting a cosmetic dentist whose office is at the beautiful Whistler ski resort town in BC Canada. We especially like the special effect at the end of the video.

via {a Whistler Dental http://www.whistlerdental.com/index.html} and Veneer Videos

Porcelain Veneers: Before and After Photos

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:41:19 -0500

If you're looking for a gallery of before and after pictures of real people who've had their smiles improved with porcelain veneers, check out these pages at LocateADoc.com. It's probably the largest gallery of veneer photos available online. There are at least 250 before and after photos shown here as submitted by various dentists from across the country. A patient named Kim is shown here. Kim had eight porcelain veneers placed on her upper teeth and her lower teeth were professionally whitened by her cosmetic dentist, Dr. Anne Gershkowitz.

Cosmetic Dentistry Moves to Video Advertising

Tue, 13 May 2008 10:18:05 -0500

How do you find a dentist that's a true expert in cosmetic dentistry?

Most people don't do the Yellow Pages anymore. Instead they start their search by going to Google and typing something like 'cosmetic dentistry', and their city name.

What dentists are you going to find when you do that? Will it be the best cosmetic dentist in your city? Or will it be the dentist who invested the most in building an online presence?

The latter of course. Though it's true that often the most experienced cosmetic dentists are also the ones who have realized the importance of marketing their business online.

Many dentists still get by just fine without even a website, while other dentists who seek new business are investing marketing dollars into online search advertising and sophisticated website design.

One of the fastest growing marketing tools is the online video. Prospective patients love to see before and after videos and to hear testimonials. People are just starting to search for videos from local dentists on YouTube.

Snap on a Smile

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:23:23 -0500

The inventor of Snap on Smile is getting lots of publicity these days. Snap-On Smile™ are false teeth made of a specialized resin that can be as thin as .5mm without compromising strength. They fit directly over existing teeth and cost between $900 to $1,600. So it's a much cheaper alternative than porcelain veneers which can cost over $1,000 per tooth.

See more about Snap on Smile in the video below. At the end of the video the dentists beautiful assistant shows us her snap on smile and then takes it off to reveal her real teeth.

Empress Veneers - A Video Commercial

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:10:04 -0500

Here's a video ad to promote Empress Veneers. This guy had eight veneers placed on his front teeth. (Does he not look like a very handsome happy beaver or what?!)

Cosmetic Dentistry Is Booming

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 08:54:40 -0500

It wasn't too long ago when people only visited a dentist when they needed their teeth repaired. The idea of going to a dentist to improve your looks was almost taboo a couple of decades ago. But now it's a whole different ball game. As Dr. Mopper says; "We're in the realm of the plastic surgeon. People come to you because they want their look changed."

See a good overview of the changing world of dental esthetics here.

Empress Veneers are the Best Veneers?

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:54:10 -0500

It used to be that if you wanted veneers, your dentist needed to shave off a big chunk of your natural tooth. But today's veneers have come a long way, they are the seventh generation of porcelain laminates. They can be paper thin and bonded onto the tooth front.

According to New Beauty Magazine;

At times, only the smallest amount of natural tooth is required to be reduced before veneer placement. The latest versions are also more translucent. The newer state-of-the-art veneers (like Empress veneers) allow light to penetrate through, producing a translucency which is very natural looking and attractive.

Katherine Heigl's Teeth: Before and After

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:16:50 -0600

Katherine Heigl says her teeth have always been crooked and that she wanted to fix this problem in time for her wedding in December 2007. But the two photos shown here were each taken over a year before that and her teeth don't seem crooked in these candid shots.

In the video below from last December she explains how she's been wearing Invisalign braces. These braces are clear and invisible. She says that every two weeks, as her teeth get straighter and straighter, she switches to a new retainer. Earlier, she said in the October issue of Style, that she took this route because of 'a wonky tooth'.

Jordan Gets a New Nose and Teeth

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:47:18 -0600

It's been a month since Jordan got back to the U.K. after having breast surgery reduction in California. She had her breast size reduced from FF to D. But only now is she letting people know that this wasn't the only cosmetic surgery she had while there. She's now admitting she also had a rhinoplasty operation which completely changed the shape of her nose.

And she's got a whole set of new teeth, having also spent 25,000 British pounds on a flashy new set of veneers while in California.
See the Jordan nose and teeth story here.

Update: Jordan says her teeth have been filed down so much for the last set of veneers that she has been in constant excruciating pain for the past six weeks.

Dental Ceramists can earn over $100,000

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:05:45 -0600

With the rapid growth in demand for cosmetic dentistry, there is a shortage in many cities of dental ceramists. Dental ceramists can earn good money for their work. Whereas a typical dental lab technician in Los Angles will make less than $30,000 in their first year of work, the dental ceramists will earn between $55,000 to $70,000. After five years of work they can earn over $100,000 annually.

Dental ceramists are trained to create the highest-quality crowns, bridges, and tooth facings. They work more with porcelain than with acrylics or resin.

The UCLA Center for Esthetic Dentistry offers a two year training program for dental ceramists. Graduates are considered Master Dental Ceramists.

Best Celebrity Teeth in 2008

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:14:50 -0600

The Best Celebrity Teeth of 2008 award goes to Eva Mendes. At least that is how the cosmetic dental professionals voted. The American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry polled their membership and 38% of them put Eva Mendes in first place with the best smile. We'd agree she has the best smile, the most beautiful mouth and lips, (not to mention her entire face and body) but the big teeth inside seem just a touch on the overdone side to us. See also a second photo of the big white veneers (?) here.

Check out more about celebrity teeth here.

Getting Yellow Teeth Back to White

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 09:49:32 -0500

A friend of mine had very yellow teeth. She's been smoking and drinking lots of coffee and red wine for a couple of decades. She recently decided to do something about it. She went to the dentist and asked about teeth whiteners.

Her dentist didn't recommend the Zoom tooth whitening method. She said the reason it's so popular is because the laser/light causes extreme dehydration to the teeth and this is what makes people's teeth look so much more brilliantly white just one hour later. But the effect is very temporary. One still needs to go through with a tooth tray whitening for a few days in order to retain the effect.

She said the one good thing about the Zoom teeth whitening procedure is that it really does motivate people to follow-up with the longer procedure because they can see right away what their teeth would look like when whiter.