The Smile Makeover- A True Story

You don’t need a beautiful smile to be a beautiful person. But then again, like a beautiful home where the façade and entry make the first impression a smile can be the welcome to the observer’s eye.

Much more than just aesthetics, a smile translates the unspoken language of emotion. A smile communicates happiness, confidence, warmth, trust and more. The smile is an invitation to friendship. A smile can be silent hello or agreement.

So when a patient comes to me and tells me they don’t smile because they don’t like the appearance of their teeth, I know they are missing out on a part of life. Social interactions become skewed. The grumpy old lady down the block is really someone’s sweet grandma but she never smiles because she is embarrassed by her teeth. That girl at the party is stuck up and unapproachable because she barely talks to anyone, but inside she is dying to laugh, chat and smile but she has an ugly front tooth and talks with her hand over her mouth. I’ve heard all the stories. I am fortunate to have the ability to play a part in a smile makeover.

Case Study: This patient (figure 1) presented with discolored and crowded teeth. After a records and a comprehensive exam were completed a treatment decision was reached. Orthodontic treatment would be done followed by porcelain veneers on the upper six front teeth.

Fig.1

The orthodontic treatment consisted of brackets on all teeth and was completed in 18 months. At that point impressions were taken to create a diagnostic wax up. The diagnostic wax up allows us to design how the smile will be on a stone model. After which the teeth are prepared and temporaries are made from the wax up. The patient then wore the temporaries for one and returned to make custom changes to shape, size and color as per the patients liking. Was the temps were exactly the way we wanted them, photos and models were sent to the lab for fabrication of the permanent porcelain veneers.

                                                Fig. 2

The patient was very happy with the outcome (figure 2), and now smiles even more than she did before.  One day we hope to treat the lower and back teeth as well for an even bigger wow factor.

Salvatore Lotardo DDS