A Comprehensive Guide to Smile Makeovers

I’m sure you’ve seen people smile and thought, “Wow! That person has a beautiful smile!” Their teeth are perfectly aligned, bright, everyone in place, and their gum line is flawless.

Achieving Your Perfect Smile

While some people are lucky enough to be born with perfect smiles, cosmetic dentists can help anyone get a flawless smile. If you have been considering a smile makeover, you may be wondering: what does it take to get a smile makeover? This blog post will help answer that question by discussing all the factors cosmetic dentists use to complete a smile makeover.

Smile Design Principles

One of the first things your cosmetic dentist will need to consider are the four principles of smile design. These include:

Facial Aesthetics

One of the most important aspects of smile design is facial aesthetics. Your cosmetic dentist will look at your face and determine how smiling, speaking, and laughing affect your overall appearance. They will also take into account other factors such as skin tone, hair color, and bone structure when designing your smile makeover.

Gum Aesthetics

Another critical aspect of designing a cosmetic dentist’s work is gum aesthetics, or the appearance and health of your gums. This includes looking at how much gum tissue you have as well as determining whether it is unevenly distributed across your teeth and if there are any irregularities present such as pockmarks or color changes.

Microesthetics

In addition to facial and gum aesthetics, your cosmetic dentist will also look at microesthetics, which are all of the subtle factors that affect the appearance of your teeth. This includes translucency, unique markings, and individual anatomy. Each tooth is different and requires a unique approach when it comes to restoring or replacing it.

Macroesthetics

Finally, there is macroesthetics which combine the look of your teeth with surrounding tissue and facial characteristics to create an overall picture of how your smile will look after you receive a cosmetic dental treatment such as veneers. For example, if someone’s lower front teeth are too long their facial features may be elongated which will need to be taken into consideration when designing their smile makeover.

Anatomical Components

In addition to the four principles of smile design, your cosmetic dentist will also evaluate the various anatomical components that make up your smile. This will allow them to create a treatment plan that is unique to your anatomy, but that will improve the appearance of your smile. Here are the structures that your cosmetic dentist will evaluate:

Lips

The lips play a major role in overall smile aesthetics since they essentially act as a frame for your smile. A cosmetic dentist can add fullness to thin lips or improve their shape to give your smile a more youthful appearance. From an aesthetic standpoint, your lips also affect the appearance of your teeth.

Smile Line

The smile line is composed of your lower lip. Ideally, the tips of your upper teeth should all line up so that they are parallel with your lower lip and your lower lip should line up with the gums of your lower jaw. Your dentist will use this information to determine the length of restorations such as crowns or veneers.

Midline

The midline is an imaginary line that runs down the center of your face from between your eyebrows to Cupid’s bow in the center of the upper lip. It’s important to have a symmetrical midline, as deviations can cause an uneven appearance when you smile. Therefore, your dentist will line up the upper front teeth with the facial midline. In some cases where this is not possible, then the midline between the central incisors should be perpendicular to a line drawn from one corner of the mouth to the other.

Teeth

There are a number of things to consider when it comes to your teeth. In fact, a large part of a smile makeover deals with improving the appearance of the teeth. Your cosmetic dentist will look at factors such as tooth color, shape, size, and alignment. They will also consider things like size proportions of one tooth to another, the texture of each tooth, the way each tooth is angled, and whether or not the upper teeth meet the lower teeth correctly. Once they have evaluated all these factors, your cosmetic dentist may recommend dental treatments such as whitening, contouring, or orthodontics to achieve the desired results.

Buccal Corridor

The buccal corridor is the space that appears between your teeth and cheeks in the corners of your mouth when you smile. Aesthetically, small buccal corridors are associated with attractive smiles.

Incisal Edge Position

The incisal edge is how far down the upper middle teeth extend. The foundation of your smile line, and smile makeover, is dependent on the incisal edge. Not only that, but the incisal edge is responsible for allowing proper speech and the pronunciation of “F” and “V” sounds.

Gums

Just like with the teeth, your dentist will evaluate the appearance of your gums. In some cases, the gums may be too visible or not visible enough. They may also be uneven in color, shape, or size. The gum line may also have a semi oval or circular shape depending on the tooth. If necessary, your dentist can perform a gum reshaping procedure to improve their appearance.

Emergence Profile

The emergence profile refers to the angulation of your teeth when viewed from the side. This angle determines how full or sunken a person’s smile appears. Generally speaking, fullness gives a more youthful appearance and is desired. However, too much angulation can take away from an aesthetic appearance. Therefore, your cosmetic dentist will take care to determine the appropriate angle.

In Conclusion

A Cosmetic Dental Smile Makeover is a process that involves evaluating all aspects of your smile, whether it be the teeth or other facial structures. It takes into consideration the many factors associated with an attractive facial appearance including the lips, midline, smile line, teeth, gums, incisal edge position, buccal corridor, and emergence profile. When these are combined together they can achieve optimal results for any patient.

If you are considering a smile makeover, be sure to consult with your cosmetic dentist to see if it is the right choice for you. Thank you for reading! We hope this article was helpful in understanding some of the factors that go into a Cosmetic Dental Smile Makeover. For more information or to schedule an appointment, please contact Florida Center for Aesthetic Dentistry in West Palm Beach today!

Dr. Sadati: Expert in Cosmetic Dentistry

Dr. Sadati possesses extensive experience in all aspects of advanced restorative dentistry, with an emphasis in cosmetic and implant dentistry. He has attained Accredited Fellow status in the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), the most rigorous, demanding credentialing process in the world. He is the only AACD Accredited Fellow in South Florida.