What if we never smile because we don’t like the look of our teeth?
It is often said that putting on a great smile at the start of every day will make for a better day. Smiling is believed to make us happier inside and make those around us feel happier and more positive.
“In many of the smile reconstructions we have completed, people often realise after the new smile is created, how little they did smile and how much this was affecting their day to day lives without even knowing it.” – Dr Barbara Szylkarski
What makes Teeth look Good?
What is it that makes one set of teeth look better than another? It is usually the case that the dentist has paid close attention to the shape of the teeth and has avoided just fitting a crown, veener or filling of a “one size fits all” standard.
The criteria for fashion and beauty is constantly changing, influencing the way in which we want to look every day. The way we see teeth as beautiful is also constantly changing. Today a smile that is wide and bright is on demand.
Just like the beauty of the Parthenon in Greece, the guidelines for creating teeth are much the same: based on symmetry and parallelism. Many structures and designs in life that we see as beautiful follow this principle.
We aim for:
-A straight and centred midline
-The tips of the upper teeth run with the smile line of the lower lip
-The side profile of the teeth is parallel with the side facial profile
-The lengths and widths of the teeth are in proportion
-Rejuvenating a smile can be done by adding some curvature back to the edges of the teeth (reversing the worn look).
When these aesthetic and cosmetic dentistry principles are followed, we can create aesthetic smiles that look better than “off the shelf smiles”.
How do we make the changes?
We achieve the changes with a full mouth reconstruction or sometimes only with crowns, veneers, implants, or white composite fillings.
It is also important to remember that some teeth may already follow most of these principles – it may be only one or two teeth that create disharmony. So with some minor smoothing and re-contouring or some teeth whitening, we can create aesthetic smiles very conservatively with minimal cost.
If you would like to read more about how to fix my smile , see our case studies: Rebuilding a smile for a busy lifestyle, or Creating a smile for her big 50th.