If you have heard of the term ‘smile makeover’ then you will know that a trip to the dentist these days is a far cry from what a trip to the dentist used to be like. No longer does a typical visit to the dentists involve a long wait in a dreary waiting room followed by a man in a white mask drilling into various teeth with a machine that would not look out of place in a construction yard. One important reason for this is the advance of cosmetic dentistry and it’s potential benefits.

During the past decade particularly there has been a steady increase in people choosing to receive cosmetic dentistry. In addition to this increase, the area of cosmetic dentistry has seen many improvements in what it can do for you. The treatment that best exemplifies this is the ‘smile makeover’.

You may ask what exactly a smile makeover is. Well, a smile makeover is the process of improving your smile by means of one or more cosmetic dentistry treatments. This can range from teeth whitening to dental veneers, and is essentially something that people opt to have done as opposed to being forced by necessity to have, for example, a full mouth reconstruction.

A smile makeover, or any other cosmetic dentistry treatment, is not, however, simply chosen by people who want to look better than they do because they are unhappy with their appearance. In most instances of people choosing to have a smile makeover it is so they can feel more comfortable with their appearance, which helps to improve their self-confidence.

A smile makeover is performed with consideration of your facial appearance in general, which includes your skin tone, hair colour, lips, and the colour, width, length and shape of your teeth. Tooth colour and shading are particularly important during the evaluation stage and in preparation for various procedures, such as veneers, bridges, crowns, and composite bonding. Discoloured and stained teeth, for instance, suggest an aged mouth, whereas a whiter smile can give the whole face a more youthful appearance. Similarly, alignment and spacing are taken into consideration to straighten teeth that appear crooked or those that overlap or those that have gaps in between them.

Missing teeth can also be rectified through a smile makeover, which reduces risk of tooth decay and can improve your bite. As well as this, a smile makeover can give the patient a fuller smile by rejuvenating the lips and cheeks with the use of orthodontics. All of these procedures are customized according to the individual receiving the smile makeover and what is most appropriate for their needs.

Yet smile makeovers are not simply a case of giving the individual whiter teeth or filling any gaps there may have. Aesthetic components are taken into consideration too. This means that tooth length, the ‘smile line’ (an imaginary line that follows the edges of your upper teeth from one side to the other), tooth proportions, texture and characterisation are taken into consideration.

Finally, the good news is that a smile makeover can last for many years if the patient attends regular oral hygiene appointments. It may require maintenance, such as repeating the teeth whitening procedure on occasion so that the brightness does not fade. However a cosmetic dentist will be able to advise you on the longevity of your smile makeover when they first evaluate you and tell you about the wonderful possibilities a smile makeover can create.

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