what would you suggest I do to improve my smile?

A Smile MakeOver can transform your patient's self-image in one or two easy visits. Popularized by television shows, our patients have learned that this can be done with minimal tooth reduction and without the conventional angst patients often feel about dental visits. Some patients actually refer to it as "fun dentistry". And it is. For the patient, the dentist and the entire dental team.

I also know a little bit about the genesis of smile makeovers since I was fortunate to pioneer, refine and teach C.E. courses on how to perform one of the original non-invasive smile makeover systems back in the mid-1980's. As described in the previous article I wrote in DPR's Best Cosmetic Dentistry Practices, I had been working with the beauty industry since 1982. Developing the smile makeover concept was a natural consequence of combining dental and facial beauty. However, conventional smile makeovers today are typically thought of as using porcelain veneers – which is fine – but it may be out of the price range for many patients in today's economy. dental instruments uk
Let's look at an innovative approach that allows you to provide your patients with beautiful, natural looking, non-invasive and affordable Smile MakeOvers – without using porcelain veneers.

Case Study
One morning the following patient came into my office and wanted to know what I could do to improve her smile. As you may know from the articles I have been writing in DPR I do not always advocate the use of smile makeovers. When possible I prefer to do one or two LifeLike Veneers? in conjunction with in-office tooth whitening to provide dramatic results. However, there are times when a smile makeover is in order. The following case is illustrative of where I still recommend smile makeovers to my patients.

After reviewing this patient's Smile Analysis form I learned she did not like the length, spacing, color, positioning, alignment and overall appearance of her teeth. This applied to the upper and lower teeth. She also felt that her canine teeth were too pointed. dental instruments

What would you do if this patient walked into your office? In addition to doing routine procedures including an oral examination and periodontal check, the first thing I did was to ask her to hold a mirror and show me what she wanted to have improved about her smile. Even after reviewing her written smile analysis form I did not want to assume that I knew which teeth she wanted to enhance, which I shared in a previous article.

After reviewing her chief concerns, evaluating her occlusion (including signs of bruxism as well as lateral and protrusive interferences) I discussed the advantages of having orthodontia. I informed her that was the optimum treatment in my opinion. However it became quite evident that orthodontia was not the route she wanted to go. She wanted to explore other options.

Now that I discovered the patient was not going to accept orthodontia, what would you suggest I do to improve her smile? Porcelain veneers were not an option since the expense would be far greater than the patient wanted to invest.

Any thoughts? Look at the before photos again. What would you do?

Here's what I did. I knew that closing in the large diastema between the right lateral incisor and canine was going to be a challenge. I also knew that the patient told me that she wanted to have "straighter, more even looking teeth" when she smiled. However, I did not want to make them look artificially straight and even.